Have
you accepted the fact that you are not your own? Affirmations of theology are much easier than
the actual doing of theology. When the
Father prods you to fast, are you still your own? When the Holy Spirit pushes you to turn down
a lucrative career move, are you still your own? When Christ bids you to forgive your father
for all the harm he has done you and to extend your love to him in a practical
way, are you still your own? At what
point is there a demarcation...I am now my own, I am not my own? Nothing takes our breath away quite like the
sudden realization that God has made a demand of us that is beyond our
threshold of submission. It is then at
the pinnacle of our faith that we face our Christianity squarely. Will we accept the life of Christ in this
matter too? Will we let Him live through
us here? Peter took off running with his
self-assurance that he would do anything for the Lord but that is the place
where Satan "hands us our lunch".
Rather than living up to his boast to never let Christ down, he wound up
ruined by failure weeping on the curb.
It was only after the Holy Spirit was breathed into him and he began to
live in the power of God rather than his own ambitions of commitment that he
took the mantle of martyrdom with careless self-denial. You are not your own is the life-long work
of God in you and it will not be train-wrecked by Satan. You may come off the rails for a while as you
try to make some sacrifice or service replace the life of Christ in you but you
will eventually be brought "back on track". Never mistake your ministry for
self-denial. It is not, unless the
crucified Christ is killing off your self-will in it and making it all God's
will working through you. We can easily
confuse our ambition for God's work and calling; if we are not careful, we will
be as useless to God as Ananias and Sapphira.
Do
you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom
you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore
honor God with your body. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NIV
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