Interest or Identification?

No longer my path, no longer my life—I walk this road now with Christ alive in me, His life flowing through every step.

In today’s reflection, Oswald Chambers draws a sharp distinction between being interested in Christ and being identified with Him. Paul doesn’t say he admires Christ or intends to model his life after Him. He declares that he has been crucified with Christ. This isn’t metaphorical—it’s positional and spiritual reality. Paul understands that his old self, with all its independence and self-ownership, was put to death on the cross.

Chambers presses us to face this same truth. At the heart of spiritual life is a radical rejection of the idea that we have a right to ourselves. That belief—that we are our own—must be crucified. And when we willingly sign off on that death, when we say with full conviction that we no longer belong to ourselves, then and only then can the life of Christ begin to manifest through us.

This isn’t about trying to imitate Jesus. It’s about sharing in His death and resurrection so that the life we now live is not fueled by our willpower but by faith in the Son of God. Our visible lives become testimonies—not to our discipline, but to Christ’s indwelling life. The transformation is so deep, so total, that it alters our very disposition from the inside out. We remain in the same physical body, but now it’s a vessel for the One who lives within.

Journal Entry — In the Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture

You were crucified with Christ. That old self-life—the insistence on your own way, the quiet pride of independence, the claim to ownership over your thoughts, time, and direction—was nailed to the Cross. It no longer has legal rights over you. I brought you into death with Him, so that I could bring you into life through Him.

Now the life you live, moment by moment, breath by breath, is not sourced from your willpower. It is not held up by your trying or your striving. It is drawn from Me. I am the wellspring of your new disposition. I do not ask you to imitate Me—I indwell you to live as you. Your personality remains, your body remains, but the engine has changed. No longer fueled by the self, you are now moved by My Spirit.

You are living in the body now, and that body can bear witness to the life of Christ within. You are not waiting for some future day to walk in My life. It is your reality now. The more you yield to Me, the more My holiness is expressed through you. Let the world see—not you trying, but Christ living. This is not a calling to improvement, but to identification. You are in Me, and I am in you.

Scriptures Woven In: Galatians 2:20, Romans 6:6, Romans 8:10, Colossians 3:3-4, 2 Corinthians 4:10-11, John 14:20

Prayer

Father, thank You that I am not called to merely admire Jesus or attempt to live like Him. You’ve joined me with Him in His death, and now His risen life is mine. I don’t belong to myself anymore—I belong to Christ. I rest in this truth, knowing that Your Spirit now fills me, not for performance, but for participation in the life of Your Son. I walk today not to achieve anything, but to let Christ express Himself through me. Thank You for making this life mine—not someday, but now.

Devotional Credit: My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers
Photo Credit: Image sourced from Unsplash.com