Marching in the Procession

   Chambers says today: "The proper perspective to maintain is that we are here for only one purpose, to be captives marching in the procession of Christ's triumphs."

   "Captives marching in the procession" brings the image to my mind of a Roman general marching the captives taken in a recent victory through the streets of the capital. The glory of the day does not belong to the captives, but to the one who claims them as his.

   Then a couple of other ideas come to me. There may be at least two differences in the attitudes of the captives as they march. On the one hand, there are those who are defiant, who had to be subdued by force, and who, even as they are led along, are scheming as to how and when they might escape. Others have come to the end of their resistance, put up their hands in surrender and are ready to serve as their new master wishes. This second group may just be resigned to their fate, or they may have seen their lives changed for the better.

   Christians that are "captured by Christ", and marching in His procession, give Him the glory. They are obediently following, not in defiance, but in love, because of what He has done in their lives. They can look forward to a life of submission to One who has their best interests at heart.

   So, where do I fit into all of this? As a Christ follower, how do I treat my circumstances, as from God and to be walked through with Him, or with resistance and looking for a way of escape? If these circumstances prove to be hard and I walk through them, who gets the glory? Me? Do I say that these things that come into my life are tests or opportunities?

   I know what the correct answers are, now, acting on those, I need to live them out in my life today.