Pressing On . . .

Philippians 3:12

"Not that I have already attained or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me."

     Every time Jesus stretched forth His hand, to lay hold of something, it was for a reason, for a purpose. He would reach out and touch that which was not right, to make it right. The imprint of Christ's touch upon a life changed that life forever. I think of the man with the withered hand, the lepers, the woman with the flow of blood, Jirus's daughter, the widows son, blind Bartimaus, Mary Magdalene, the demon possessed man of the tombs; each life that was touched by Christ, was changed. None of these were left the same after experiencing Christ.

To the man who lived within the tombs, bearing a name of Legion, overtaken by the demons within, Jesus' encounter not only changed his life, but changed his identity. His name could no longer be what it was before. For Legion meant many, yet now he was restored as one man standing before His Lord. In response, he pleaded with Jesus to follow Him, just to be with Him. But what was Jesus' response? We read that He did not permit this desire to be so, but commanded him by saying, "Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you." (Mark 5:19) So he went and proclaimed all that Jesus had done for him. But what was this man's greatest testimony? His changed life. His name no longer under the control of a demon, but he could confidently proclaim that his name is son, servant, friend of God, and greater yet, is engraved in heaven.

His identity was changed, his life transformed, through the laying hold of Christ in his life. And with such a change, a commission to go forth and share--to declare the wonderful touch of Christ in a life. 

Christ often touches our lives by bringing us through things where we experienced a greater need for Him, and through our desperate cry for His strength, His empowering, His wisdom, we were more "perfected in Christ". Because through those circumstances we learned more of what it meant to live life in Christ. Not life in ourselves, but life through Him. We come out of these times or seasons feeling a bit more "attained"-- not necessarily in a prideful way, but enriched by experiencing more of Christ's touch in our lives, a deeper understanding of the workings of God.

But out of these experiences where are we to go next? For what reason did Christ reach down and touch you? We see through the Scriptures that He always stretched out His hand for a purpose, so what was the purpose in your case? Why did He lay hold of you?

I believe it is that we would than lay hold of our role in His kingdom. To bear witness to what we have experienced. Simple, pure. We are called to proclaim the wonderful things Christ has done in touching our lives. He touched us that we may have the imprints of His hand upon our lives to show others. He renamed us that we may have a greater name to declare. He touched you that you may go out and touch the hearts of others through your living. 

We read that faith comes by hearing and if this be true, we have a better understanding of why the Lord placed stories of His touch in others lives all throughout Scriptures, because as we read and hear of these things our hearts lay hold of the truth, and than as we are touched we become characters of His work, that we may tell our story to others and their faith may be increased. 

This is our call. To bear witness of the work of Christ in our life. 

He touched that young man, so he could return to his home and declare the works of God. Had he remained with Jesus, the story of God's touch, would only remain giving faith to himself, but through re-telling the story to others, their faith may be increased and His name may be glorified and lifted above our own.

Application for Myself:

I have experienced the touch of God in my life in the last year, and now the question comes, what is next? what am i to lay hold of? The answer, that which He lay hold of for me. He touched me, not only so i could treasure the experience and love Him deeper, but that I may return and show His imprints through my living. I have stories to share to increase the faith of others. I would be selfish to just keep them to myself.