Embedded Files
Right before my 51st birthday, my husband, Steven, asked me if there was anything in particular that I wanted.
Gifts is one of his love languages so he really enjoys giving them.
Most of the time, I can’t think of anything I want or need.
But this particular time I told him that he could get me a doll.
Just in case you think I’m reverting back to my childhood, let me clarify what kind of doll.
A matryoshka (pronunciation) doll.
I have a Russian matryoshka doll that my dad bought in Russia several years ago while he was still working in the oilfield.
If you’re familiar with these dolls, you know that there is more to them than meets the eye.
Upon closer inspection, you will find that these dolls come apart at the middle.
When you take one apart, you find a smaller doll nested inside.
That doll also comes apart to reveal yet another one inside it.
And so forth … depending on which doll you have.
The very first matryoshka doll was comprised of eight dolls altogether.
The original matryoshka set by Zvyozdochkin and Malyutin, 1892.
What you actually get from one of these dolls is so much more than you first realize!
It’s the same with the Christian life.
Although I wasn’t aware of it then, the moment I believed in Jesus in the fall of 1974, Father God changed my spiritual location.
He literally (not just philosophically or theologically) took me out of Adam and placed me into His Son (1 Corinthians 15:22; Ephesians 2:5).
It’s a spirit thing.
Another Scripture which speaks of our being “in Christ Jesus” is 1 Corinthians 1:30:
By His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption. (NASB)
If you are a believer in Christ, by Father God’s doing, you are in His Son.
You share His life.
Jesus is your wisdom, your righteousness, and your sanctification (fancy word for holiness).
If someone would have shared these truths with me about my being in Christ when I first believed, I might have been spared a ton of self-inflicted heartache.
But for some reason, back then in my neck of the woods (the Texas Panhandle), nobody was teaching a about identity in Christ.
Or if they were, I wasn’t hearing it.
The main message then was, “You need to ask Jesus in your heart so that you can go to Heaven when you die.”
When you die.
Fire insurance.
Life in Christ is so much more wonderful than that!
You may be wondering why I want to start collecting these Russian dolls.
Simple.
I love tangible keepsakes of invisible, eternal truths.
Now, every time I see one of these dolls I remember that I am safely nestled inside of Christ for all eternity.
And that is something every believer needs to be reminded of often!
***
To learn more about what it means to be in Christ, I invite you to check out my books and my video series based on my first devotional.
Page updated
Report abuse