What Colour is your Life?

Paint brush in rainbow colours

Sometime ago I was driving on a major road in Nigeria when I spotted a billboard advert by SAMSUNG advertising one of their range of mobile phones called CORBY. The phone comes in four different colours to give their customers extended choice. The poser of that advert was: what colour is your life? As I drove on I began to ponder on how people would answer that question. It occurred to me that to answer that question one would have to determine the source or cause of colour and the reasons there are different colours?

With a little study I discovered that: ‘colour is a physical phenomenon of light associated with various wavelengths in the visible portion of the electro-magnetic spectrum’. The most important part of this definition that I would like us to take note of is that COLOUR IS A PHENOMENON OF LIGHT; that is, light is the source of colour OR colour is an effect of light. This means that the perception of colour is based on the ‘activities’ of light. Relating that to humans therefore, to know what ‘colour’ a life is we must determine the ‘Force’ or ‘Source’ driving that life. As Christians we know that we are born of God through Jesus Christ and so therefore God is our source. What this means is that we are supposed to be a phenomenon of God, but are we?

GOD IS LIGHT

…God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all. 1 Jh 1:5

The scripture says that God is light and this means that every Christian is expected to be a phenomenon of God. When people see us they should see God. On a higher pedestal, as opposed to natural sun-light that shines externally on objects, the light that we have is inside of us. In 1 Jh 5:11-12 the bible states that God has given us his Life and that happened when we received Jesus, consequently we have the Light inside of us because the bible says that Life is the Light of men (Jh 1:4). The beauty of this is that while God is our defining entity we in turn should be the defining entity of the world. No wonder the scripture refers to us as the light of the world (Matt 5:14). The original intention of God is for Christians to be the driving force on the earth till we take over every sphere, realm and space.

The unfortunate thing however is that many Christians are not being the driving force of their sphere of influence and this is partly due to the fact that the light in many has become darkness. Jesus warned us against this in Luke 11:34-36 saying we should take heed so that the light in us does not become darkness. But how can light become darkness? The description of physical ‘white light’ gives us some insight: ‘White light is composed of electro-magnetic vibrations. If the intensity of these vibrations is strong, the light is white; if it is not, the light is grey and if it is non-existent, the light is black or dark. In the same way, when the activity of God in our lives is substantial (that is, our interaction with him is consistently robust), we are able to shine and express our Christ-likeness but when it is otherwise, we have no light to shine.

This is how it should be: God, who is our life, defines us through our fellowship with him while we in turn define the world around us. The bible says that God has shone in our hearts his light so that even while in this body we can shine the knowledge of the glory of God through our relationship and fellowship with Jesus Christ (2 Cor 4: 6-7).

For every Christian, the answer to the question of this discourse should be Christ. The colour of our life is Christ because he is the one who defines our life. Men should see us and know that we are born of God, that is, we are a phenomenon of Christ. Hallelujah!

BREAKING POINT

And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships. And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? (Mar 4:35-38 KJV)

Pick up any newspaper on any day or log on to the internet and you are confronted with loads of sad, negative and absolutely evil news of happenings across the globe. News of natural disasters and man’s wickedness towards one another has become a daily occurrence.  The rate of divorce is increasing at an alarming rate, homicide of terrible dimensions, juvenile delinquency, sickness and disease epidemic, job loss and abject poverty, suicide bombings and kidnappings, civil unrest and criminal gang activities and the list goes on. It is almost as if we are being drowned in the storm of evil happenings which is doing everything in its power to destroy mankind. Everyone is affected one way or the other. Quite interestingly Christians are not spared these problems and for many people they have reached breaking point; they just can’t take it anymore. 

The journey of life seems very much to me like the story of Jesus and his disciples on a journey from one sea coast to the other. While on that fateful journey, just like our life’s journey, the bible states that a great storm of wind arose. I want you to note that the disciples where on this journey with Jesus and this reveals to us that the fact that we are born-again or that you are acting based on God’s word does not exempt us from encountering problems and trials. Many Christians have neglected the place of their purpose just because problems arose and they suppose God didn’t send them. As a matter of fact, it is because we are in the right place that storms would arise. However, knowing this does not make these problems and trials vanish and many times when we have reached breaking point we look to God and ask what the disciples asked Jesus, ‘Master, don’t you care if we perish?’ When we are at this cross road let us stop and remember the word of the Lord to us in the book of Hebrews:

Let your character or moral disposition be free from love of money [including greed, avarice, lust, and craving for earthly possessions] and be satisfied with your present [circumstances and with what you have]; for He [God] Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)! [Assuredly not!] [Josh. 1:5.] So we take comfort and are encouraged and confidently and boldly say, The Lord is my Helper; I will not be seized with alarm [I will not fear or dread or be terrified]. What can man do to me? (Heb 13:5-6 AMP)

I AM MY FATHER's SON

 

For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ..….for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

(Gal 3:26-29 KJV)

Some centuries ago when the known world was ruled by royal empires, when there were no air planes  and when people’s wealth was directly linked to the expanse of land they owned, giving birth to sons was absolutely serious business, almost literarily. If you were rich and you had not given birth to a son it was as if you didn’t have anything and for practical purposes you didn’t because when you died there would be nobody to perpetuate your name and your servants would most likely inherit your wealth. That was why Abraham was so concerned when he hadn’t gotten a son and he already concluded his chief servant was going to inherit all he had [check Genesis chapter 15]. Sons, especially first sons, were the very epitome of the glory of a family; they were supposed to exemplify the virtues, wealth and character of the family. When you see the son you see all the family has to offer.

Beyond that however, in those times in history, as it is now, whether male or female child, the quality of your life depends on the wealth of your parents. If your parents are rich, other things being equal, you exhibited traits of wealth: you wear more expensive clothes, go to better and more expensive schools, etcetera. There are just some things you expect from a child from a rich family as opposed to one from a poor background. These days, though the bias for and attachment to sons is still visible, especially in African societies, females also now effectively represent their families well. We now see both male and female children taking over family business across the globe. The point I am trying to make here is that as long as the world exist, children generally are expected to reflect the wealth or otherwise of their parents.

With that background let’s look at our lives as Christians. In the part of scripture quoted above we see clearly that we are referred to and we actually are children of God through Christ Jesus. In other words we are born of God, we are his offspring. Romans chapter 8 vs 15-17 states that we have received the spirit of adoption that makes God our father. Consequently, going by the same analogy, it means that as children of God we should of necessity reflect the glory [virtues, wealth and character] of God. When people interact with us they should be able to know that God is our father. So if God is royalty, we are royalty, if God is righteous then we are righteous, if God cannot be sick then we have divine health, if God is not poor then we shouldn’t be poor.  I believe you are catching my point.

The issue of fatherhood or parenthood is very significant because whatever our father has we have access to. All what he has is our inheritance by the simple fact that we are born of him. If our experiences therefore do not reflect to whom we belong, then there is a big problem. Now let’s juxtapose this with the experiences we have as Christians and we will readily see that our lives many times go contrary to the claim of who our father is. Both our character and the quality of our lives greatly fall short of this truth many times, why is this so?  Chapter 4 vs 1-2 of Galatians tells us why:

 Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.

(Gal 4:1-2 KJV)

Wow! What this scripture is telling me is that I might be the child of my father but as long as I remain a child and do not grow into a son, I am not different from a servant. The bible says though this child is the lord of all [being the heir and owner to all his father has], he would have the experience of a servant as long as he remained a child because a child cannot TAKE ADVANTAGE of what he has. This is the key to the reason why we have experiences that do not reflect the image of our Father. As long as we remain a child we cannot adequately appropriate the advantages we have in Christ. This scripture shows us that the child would be under tutors and governors [that is, teachers] till appointed time [till he grows to maturity]. 

At first glance we might suppose that it is the father who has determined the appointed but actually it is the child. This is because nobody but the child can determine how fast he would grow to maturity. Consequently we are the only one who can determine how fast we grow into maturity in Christ; whether we want to remain a child or grow to become sons. The use of son in this discourse does not refer male or female as we see in the opening scripture that there is neither male nor female in Christ but to a state of maturity. Let us all strive to grow into maturity in Christ so that we can BE ALL WE CAN BE, HAVE ALL WE CAN HAVE and DO ALL WE CAN DO. So I put this question to you: Are you your Father’s son?

DON'T TELL ME THAT !!!

Hey! Before you accept that something is impossible just make sure that you have exhausted all possible avenues of accomplishing that thing. While many people are shying away from their vision or desires because of fear of failure, some others are cooking up audacious dreams and finding ways to conquer them.

Have you heard of the flagship SKY CITY being planned to be built in Tokyo, Japan? It is an incredibly conceived skyscraper that will be two-thirds [2/3] of a mile high and double the height of the presently highest skyscraper. It is going to provide accommodation for hundreds of thousands of people working and living there. According to the architects, they are not planning to build a skyscraper but a VERTICAL CITY where it is possible to live from cradle to grave without stepping foot on mother earth!

Are there problems associated with this project? Absolutely yes! But with every problem envisaged, the people working on it kept coming with novel and maybe sometimes crazy solutions. As far as they are concerned, the question is not can it be done but how can it be done? This is the important lesson to learn from this audacious project.

Friend, most likely your dreams are not yet as high as Sky City so when someone or something tells you it can be achieved, just shout; DON’T TELL ME THAT!