SHAPED

And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God – Luke 13:13

The Ordered Life is a SHAPED Life! Creation is full of patterns, forms, and shapes. Rarely is anything random. Genesis 1: 2 says, “The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.” God, who by His Word and His Spirit exercised the Dominion of divine Order over the formlessness, emptiness, and darkness of the earth, is more than able and willing to give the desired form and shape to your life and destiny, all for His Glory! Fundamentally, it is Grace that shapes lives. The Christian life, from ‘a’ to ‘z’, is utterly dependent on the grace of God. We come into spiritual life by grace, and by grace we grow (Rom.3:24; Eph.2:5; Acts 13:43). Grace provides the foundation for life transformation and change (Tit.2:11).

Grace trains us in the dynamics of change (Tit.2:12). Sin deformed us; but righteousness by grace through faith transforms us. By grace our souls survive diverse trials (2Cor.12:9; Heb.4:16). Grace strengthens us for everyday life and by it we grow into greater maturity (2Tim.2:1; Heb.13:9; 2Pet.3:18). By God’s grace we become all we can be in Him (1Cor.15:10). Our lives are essentially shaped by the instruments of His grace: His Voice – the Word; His ear – Prayer, and His people through fellowship. God trains us in godliness through His Grace. Grace shapes character (Tit.2:11-15). Character shapes destiny. The good gift of God in bringing salvation continues to work out in the cleansing process of sanctification. Grace frees us from both the punishment of sin (salvation) and the power of sin (sanctification). That was the story of the Cretians, for which Paul told Titus: “For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking…” (Tit.1:5a).

Although Grace shapes our lives, each of us has some responsibility in this process. Despite being saved by grace, you are admonished to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil.2:12b). That is: “keep your salvation in shape”! No one can transfer the benefits of his exercise to your body. No one can exercise for you! To get the benefit of exercise you must do it yourself. The Christian life is a lot like exercise. No one can live the Christian life for you. The Philippians were not to work for their salvation, but to bring it to completion. Salvation is not static. You can keep your salvation in good shape as you allow God to work through you (Phil.2:12-16). He never intended that you file your salvation experience away and live as you please without any commitment to growth. Your faith must produce in you good works resulting from your salvation. Is your salvation experience anything more than just a prayer you said five, ten or twenty-five years ago? If not, what are you going to do about it?

As with salvation, so it is with other aspects of life: worthwhile lives are not accidental. No one becomes great by dumb luck or by inherited genes. For an ordered life somebody has to shape the raw material into something useful. An artist will take pains to paint a landscape or create a sculpture. Michelangelo could sense an angel struggling to emerge in a rough block of marble; his job was to free the angel! Inside your rough exterior is a beautiful life available for shaping as you submit to the hands of the Perfect Potter. Even seemingly random twists of fate are all a part of His molding process. Our lives are shaped by God and those around us who care enough to sculpt us, but we must be available. God specializes in restoring souls that have been bent out of shape. He did so for the woman who for eighteen years was bent in under the spirit of infirmity (Lk.13:13). She came; He called and shaped her! He’ll do much more for you is you are available for His life-shaping interventions?