We begin a short series of four articles and poems this month on degrees in the school of Christ.
Christ Jesus launched an invitation to every man on earth, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11 :28-30 NKJV
The call to “learn from Me” is Christ Jesus’ invitation to you and me into His school. We are to come into an educational program very much different from our usual way of life, to learn meekness instead of pride, to learn to be last and not first; into an apprenticeship where we are taught the right way of life in order to be ready for heaven for Christ is the Way.
We are to enter the school of Christ, to learn from Him meekness and lowliness. Redemption is that process by which the soul is trained for heaven. This training means a knowledge of Christ. It means emancipation from ideas, habits, and practices that have been gained in the school of the prince of darkness. The soul must be delivered from all that is opposed to loyalty to God. DA 330.2
This program is a lifelong one where we unlearn the ways of Satan and no one can apply for us, we each must decide for, to a great extent, we are the architects of our destiny.
The first degree is the BA. This is to be Born Again. This comes first and undergirds every other advancement in the Christian way. Just as when one would skip the foundational classes, thinking to advance without learning the basics, would fail woefully in his courses, so would anyone fail who tries to live the Christian Life without the new birth. Are you born again ?
Why delay ? Begin 2022 accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as Lord and personal Saviour ; Lord, meaning your King, to order how you live ; personal Saviour meaning He died for your transgressions or violation of His divine Ten Commandments, live by His merits.
Here is how this grace may be obtained :
Go to your closet, and there alone plead with God : « Create in me a clean heart, O God ; and renew a right spirit within me. » Be in earnest, be sincere. Fervent prayer availeth much. Jacob-like, wrestle in prayer. Agonize. Jesus in the garden sweat great drops of blood ; you must make an effort. Do not leave your closet until you feel strong in God ; then watch, and just as long as you watch and pray you can keep these evil besetments under, and the grace of God can and will appear in you. Messages to Young People 131.3
Fáwẹ́hìnmi Olúwatóbi.