Whose Life Is It Anyway?

Dec 3, 2014 2276

You are not your own; you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body – 1 Cor 6:19-20 RSV.

by Desmond Ford

We are God’s, not our own. How can it be?

We were bought. We were delivered, if we will accept it. God’s own Son valued us so highly that he would not leave us in the darkness of the shadow of condemnation and death. By his own agonies he saves us from our agonies, if we will let him.

How can I discharge my obligations to those less fortunate? One way only exists. Only “in Christ;’ by trust and obedience, can my way be wise, safe and useful. Christ will lead me in the path of stewardship. My life is not my own, nor are my moments, talents, opportunities or health. They are all held in trust. To rightly use them is the rent for the space I occupy down here.

Stand under the shadow of that ancient cross and hear the plaintive cry, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” The answer is: He was forsaken that we might forsake our habit of fleeing from life’s cross, and the cross of the gospel, crosses which, if lifted, ultimately will lift us. For the cross of service and stewardship, when embraced, becomes as wings to a bird and as sails to a ship. The sighs of Calvary, through the magic alchemy of our loving, Heavenly Father, ultimately become transfigured into the songs of Paradise.

Therefore sing it gladly: “We are not our own, for we have been bought with a price. Therefore will we glorify God in our body and in our spirit which are God’s.” Hallelujah!

– Des Ford. Rom 8:27–32 (From “It’s My Life, Isn’t It?”)

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