Chapter 7 - Authentic Suffering and the Sustaining Gospel

Have you ever forgotten to breathe? If you are reading this, then I would dare say you have not forgotten for any extended length of time. As Christians, the gospel is--in a sense--like the spiritual air we breathe. Christ's sacrifice on our behalf has made it possible for us to be made spiritually alive.

But do we too often treat the good news as we do breathing? Breathing is involuntary; we can stop and think about it, but we don't have to do so in order to continue taking in air. The fact that we take in oxygen makes it possible for us to do everything else in life. The gospel has made it possible for us to live our lives in a manner pleasing to God, even in the midst of suffering.

I won't push the analogy too far, because it's only a fair analogy at best; the point is that we are blessed to have the word of God which tells us what he has done through Christ on our behalf. We can and should appropriate that truth, especially when faced with suffering. We who were dead have been made alive. We who were orphans have been adopted as sons of the living God. We who were without hope now have assurance of eternal life.

As we seek to keep "Bucket One" empty, let us remember our Savior and the sufferings he endured on our behalf, and by the word and the Spirit, let us be transformed into his likeness so that he may be seen by others in our own lives.