DAILY READING
REFLECTION
Ambassador to Those I Encounter
by Elaine Pierce
What would it be like if the President called you and say, "I'd like to appoint you as one of my key ambassadors. Please choose the country you'd like to represent." I would spend a lot of time dreaming about where I would like to go, wouldn't you? I'm thinking somewhere warm...or maybe an English-speaking country so I can talk to people...maybe somewhere with beautiful scenery... it's fun to daydream about something that will never happen - to me at least.
In today's passage, Paul tells the members of the church in the city of Corinth that they have been designated Christ's ambassadors (v. 20). And what is our role as his ambassadors? It is to persuade men and women that Christ died for all - take a look at how he describes this in verse 15.
"And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again."
US Ambassadors live in foreign countries and help maintain a positive relationship between the US and the host country. As Christ's ambassadors, we are called to be in the world but not of the world. (John 17:14) Ambassadors are tasked with negotiating on behalf of their government, but they don't operate autonomously: they represent the wishes of their president. So, too, ambassadors for Christ have one goal, and that is to reflect Jesus.
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone the new has come!" (v. 17)
I may never be a US ambassador, but God has called me - and he has called you - to be his ambassador. Through UALC, we share God's Good News here in Columbus and around the world. Our oasis community is serving our neighbors right here, and we send our people to serve in Honduras, in Haiti, in Ethiopia - to name just a few places. To those whom much has been given, much is required. Thank God for our many blessings and ask him to show you today how you can be his ambassador. He will lead you; he will guide you.
PRAYER
Lord, you have given us the privilege of being your ambassadors. What a joy it is to serve in your name. Give us boldness and confidence to share your name with those we love and those we serve. Amen.
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