for none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. for if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. [rom 14:7-8]
i am not my own. i belong to God. he calls the shots, because he has bought me with his blood, and has prepared, even before he created the earth, good works for me to do in him. so as he calls, i need to follow. with joy, with gratitude, and with awe. as imperfectly as i am able to do so, this is how the Lord is glorified in us.
in light of this, we are free to lay down our burden of trying to run our own lives. so many of the choices we make are so trivial, yet we fill our days with them. so many activities, hobbies, relationship choices, clothing choices, food choices, social media choices, television choices, the list goes on and on of things we fill our lives with, yet without even a thought of why we’re doing them, let alone if we’re doing them for the glory of Jesus Christ. not that these things are necessarily evil in and of themselves, (although some may be). but the Lord doesn’t call us to mindless and empty works. he shows us a better way. a more satisfying and glorious way. a way that shows to whom we belong. a way that shows our position and inheritance as sons and daughters of the King.
Jesus didn’t die so that you could be his just when you die. that’s the beauty of redemption. you are his now! he calls you out of darkness, he justifies you before a holy God, and then he glorifies you in the all satisfying presence of your Maker. (romans 8:30) so Christ certainly has made a way for you to live eternally in his kingdom. praise him! but he has brought eternity down here to you, as well, taking over your heart, giving you a hunger to follow him as he reveals more of himself to you day by day. praise him!
so the question of the day has to be what was preached a couple of weeks ago…
why am I doing this?
can we actually take every action, and preface it with, “why am i doing this?” and if it’s to glorify and serve the Father, do it heartily as unto him? (col 3:23) and if it’s for our own pride, control, or comfort, have the courage to scratch it off of our to do list? i would encourage/challenge you to do this exercise today in prayer. ask the Spirit to reveal things that you still use to live to yourself. ask for conviction, courage, and a desire to let the love of Christ control you.
for to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. (rom 14:9)
for you were bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body. (1 cor 6:20)
i know, o Lord, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps. (jer 10:23)
thus you are to be holy to me, for i the Lord am holy; and i have set you apart from the peoples to be mine. (leviticus 20:26)
and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s. (1 cor 3:23)
~arwen eastman