“Who has a harder fight than he who is striving to overcome himself.”
Thomas À Kempis

If I didn’t know better I’d say that Oswald Chambers was out to get me.
I read ahead in my little devotional and it serves me right.
Just after Thomas À Kempis had weighed in, Chambers piled on.

“God does not expect us to imitate Jesus Christ; He expects us to allow the life of Jesus to be manifested in our mortal flesh.”
Oswald Chambers

The hard part is the word allow.
It screams deference, or in simple terms, giving up my way and doing it the way Jesus would.
Yes, I said it: WWJD?
For those of you that aren’t 11 year old girls that translates to ‘What Would Jesus Do?’.

A “What Would Jesus Do?” (WWJD) bracelet (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I know someone made a million dollars selling plastic wristbands with WWJD printed on them, but that doesn’t diminish the effectiveness of the question.
That question has the secret sauce that instantly clears my muddled thoughts.

For me, now this is just me, I don’t know the source of your spiritual angst, but for me the problem lies in how to get what I want while appearing Christlike.

And that willingness to be a fake christian instead of a real christian limits God in my life.
He wants me to be real, from the inside out real. Oswald Chambers got it completely right. A real Christian allows Jesus to live through her surrendered life. It’s a beautiful thing to behold. It brings glory to God and joy and peace to the one who learns to do it.
Paul called it a living sacrifice and said it was holy and acceptable to God. A living sacrifice means daily opportunities to allow Jesus to live through us. And tomorrow will bring more opportunities, and so on until we’ve lived an entire life of surrender to Christ.

My own worst enemy.  Now there’s a thought to take with me on a walk.

Sunday is a perfect day for reflection and walks.