Lord, I will remember that my service for You must not be hindered by self-effort, “lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect” (1 Corinthians 1:17, KJV). It is so easy to think I am doing You a service, when in reality I am feeding my own ego. Paul did not use rhetorical devices when preaching the gospel, lest his natural talents and abilities get in the way. The moment I become inclined toward my natural instincts, that moment I rob the cross of its persuasive power.
The cross is a power all by itself. “And I, if I be lifted up … will draw all men to Myself (John 12:32). God does not need me for what I am in myself; He only needs me as a channel to send His power through me. My greatest problem as a servant of Christ is to keep the me from getting in His way. What God has promised to bless is not me per se, but the free-flowing message of the cross through me. God is obligated to honor His Son, not me, and He only honors me when I in turn honor His Son.
Lord, I must understand that You called me, not because there is some intrinsic or subtle value in me, but only because You desire to reveal Your Son in and through me. I may indeed draw people by means of a pleasing personality or speaking gifts, but that does not mean I am accomplishing Your purposes through me.
Lord, may I be willing to follow the biblical formula: I must die if I would live; I must be a submissive “Moses’ rod” if I would lead people from slavery to freedom. This is my great consolation: not what I did for Christ, but what He was pleased to do through me! “The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 1:14, NIV).
“But may it never he that I should boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Galatians 6:14).
Daily with the King 