Jesus Knows Me

03.19.12

1 Corinthians 4.4 4 For I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted; but the one who examines me is the Lord. NASB

You know, it isn’t who you know it’s Who knows you – and what they say about what they know. Paul said he wasn’t aware of anything against himself. I’m not aware of anything against me…oops, there goes my nose again! Ah, but Paul the Apostle was a pretty interesting guy. He wasn’t claiming sinless-ness; but he was claiming that even his own testimony and his own clear conscience weren’t enough to clear him of whatever might be floating around out there. Paul could toot his horn all he wanted, but even then, he wasn’t going to use that as any evidence he was who he claimed he was.

Paul’s out (if there was one or he needed one) was: Jesus knows me; if you have a problem with me, take it up with Him. Bold words? Arrogance? Perhaps; but he claimed the judgment of the Lord as his vindication. Big statement! The bottom line Paul was saying, if you want to judge me, judge the Lord; I work for Him. Really big statement!!

I’m amazed at what Paul committed to in his heart. He was saying if you want to judge me, judge Jesus. That is really huge (of course I am always astounded at the things that the apostle said…). Paul placed all of the attention on Jesus. That meant that he was so into the Lord that he was willing to stake his reputation only on the Lord’s reputation. To do that meant to be saying in essence, if you see me, you see the Lord. Now we’re talking massive statement. But Paul was so confident of his standing and calling with the Lord, that he could do that, and say that.

What makes a person sell out to Jesus on that level? What would you or I have to do to sell out like that? Is it possible – I mean for us? Is it something we would even want to do? Is it even worth the effort or investment? Paul certainly seemed to think so… Paul staked his life on it – he staked the Lord’s reputation on it as well. Who do you want to be like? Who do you want to emulate? What effort will you go to, to be able to say, if you see me, you see: _________________ (add a name).

But that is our calling in Christ. That is our responsibility in private and public life. Do I think Paul had bad days? I suppose so; I assume he did. But I also know he was sold out to the point that I think he would scare the bejeepers out of most folks today. I think he scared them out of most folks back then. I think the Corinthians were undone by a lot of the things Paul said to them – but apparently it worked because at some level (See 2 Corinthians) they were willing to deal with some of the thornier issues and try to modify their behavior and beliefs.

As I sit here tonight and think about Paul and Jesus and being sold out, I know I have a way ways to go in order to get where Paul was. My prayer is simply this: Lord Jesus, You know my heart and my soul. I ask that You enable me to live more and more like I think I want to live and less and less the way I live. May I learn to sell out in steps and may what I do be pleasing in Your sight. I’m not Paul but I’d sure like to make progress like he did. That’s my prayer, I leave the answer up to You – amen.