19 May
Carriers of Christ
Some of you may feel that this is very unlike your own experience. You may say 'I've never had the sense of being helped by an invisible Christ, but I often have been helped by other human beings.' That is rather like the woman in the first war who said that if there were a bread shortage it would not bother her house because they always ate toast. If there is no bread there will be no toast. If there were no help from Christ, there would be no help from other human beings. He works on us in all sorts of ways: not only through what we think our 'religious life'. He works through Nature, through our own bodies, through books, sometimes through experiences which seem (at the time) anti-Christian. When a young man who has been going to church in a routine way honestly realises that he does not believe in Christianity and stops going—provided he does it for honesty's sake and not just to annoy his parents—the spirit of Christ is probably nearer to him then than it ever was before. But above all, He works on us through each other.
Men are mirrors, or 'carriers' of Christ to other men. Sometimes unconscious carriers. This 'good infection' can be carried by those who have not got it themselves. People who were not Christians themselves helped me to Christianity. But usually it is those who know Him that bring Him to others. That is why the Church, the whole body of Christians showing Him to one another, is so important. You might say that when two Christians are following Christ together there is not twice as much Christianity as when they are apart, but sixteen times as much.
—from Mere Christianity
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Compiled in A Year with C.S. Lewis
Mere Christianity. Copyright © 1952, C. S. Lewis Pte. Ltd. Copyright renewed © 1980, C. S. Lewis Pte. Ltd. All rights reserved. Used with permission of HarperCollins Publishers. A Year With C.S. Lewis: Daily Readings from His Classic Works. Copyright © 2003 by C. S. Lewis Pte. Ltd. All rights reserved. Used with permission of HarperCollins Publishers.
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May 19
The wicked worketh a deceitful work: but to him that soweth righteousness shall be a sure reward (11:18).
The scribes and Pharisees watched the movements of Jesus very carefully. If at any time, Jesus contradicted His words by His actions, they would have been able to discredit Him, and the Christian movement would have come to a screeching halt. Due to His divine nature, Christ was able to live a life free from sin, and thereby gave us an example of how we should strive to behave. The reward for living the life of Christ is eternal life in God's heavenly home. There is no other way that we can hope to attain heaven than through the love and grace of Jesus Christ. If we earnestly desire to follow Christ with all our heart, mind and soul, then Jesus will be faithful to judge us favorably when we come before Him.
Living the life of Christ seems an impossible task. On our own, it would be, but we have the promise of Christ that He will send a helper into our lives. We have the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and when we find that we have trouble following Christ's example, we can rest in His help. We must be honest with God, and open to His leading through the Holy Spirit. If we will do that, we will indeed sow the seed of righteousness, and God most surely will grant us our eternal reward.
prayer: O Lord, I want to follow in your footsteps, but they loom so large before me. I feel unworthy to attempt to live as you did, or to even hope for the reward you promise all who will be faithful. Bless my attempts, Father. Amen.
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