The Way of Life

One day in an African country, a man from the USA came to a remote village. On his way to a friend, he came to a road with two ways. He met a young boy and asked him the way to the valley, and the boy showed him the way to meet his friend.

We know that after baptism we come to a new way. We find God’s truth, which means that we have to walk in the way of Christ. We must love God with our whole being (Deuteronomy 6:5; Mark 12:30). How can we do this? By reading the Bible, thinking of Christ and meeting believers. That shows that we are with God and not the world (Philippians 4:8). If we are a friend of the world, we turn away from God.

What is the way of life? One day Nicodemus went to Jesus to ask him about God’s kingdom. Jesus said that he is the way, the truth and life (John 3:20,21;14:6). We must live the truth day and night.

We sing Hymn 153, Lord, I have promised to serve thee to the end, and we must have a good spirit. In the Old and New Testaments, the word ‘spirit’ has varied meanings: consciousness, power. When applied to the heart of man, it can mean thinking, feelings and desires. In the New Testament, living in the spirit is a great theme (1 John 5:6-8). What is the way to do good? It is a life that is opposite to the world. Holiness will mould our spirit to live according to God (Romans 15:15), in the same way as it helped Christ to grow in favour with God and man.

In our daily life we must question ourselves:
   1. Is the life we lead the way of Christ?
   2. Is it spiritual?
   3. Do I think of Christ all the time?
   4. Do I read the Bible?
By these we create a spiritual life.

A spirit way of life changes our image of life into being Christ-like (2 Corinthians 3:17-19). Reading the Bible must not be just a hobby, but the truth must rule over our way of life. We must have spiritual growth in ourselves. Our heart must change from a heart of stone into a heart of flesh by loving and understanding the bible (Ephesians 3:6-18).

The Bible tells us that God’s words are spirit. As we do the daily readings, we must systematically let the word enter our heart. BY DOING THIS WE WILL HAVE THE WEAPONS FOR OUR WARFARE. Paul gave us words of wisdom (2 Corinthians 10:2-6). What is our warfare? It is the greatest war of all: between flesh and spirit. It began when Adam disobeyed God (Genesis 3:15). Adam broke fellowship with God, but Jesus restores it (John 3:16). Our own warfare began when we were baptised. How do we obtain weapons to conquer the flesh? Paul told the Ephesian brothers to be strong in Christ (Ephesians 6:10-18) and the Psalmist tells us that we must have the word of God hidden in our hearts (Psalm 119:11).

Christ conquered his temptations in the desert by knowing the power of the word. Let us know our Bible which is the lamp to our feet (Psalm 119:105).

Bro Dzingai Sumburera (Rimbi, Zimbabwe)