Bought with a Price

…You are not your own, for you have been bought with a price…

             I Corinthians 6:19-20

  Every Sunday for years, these are the words I saw carved into the wall behind the platform at church.  I lived much of my life with a mindset far removed from that message.  Even though I faithfully attended church with my family every Sunday, participated in youth groups and other Christian activities, somehow all that knowledge about God had never penetrated my heart.  

I was twenty-eight years old when my husband and I moved to another state and I started attending church with a new friend.  It was there I finally heard, understood, and responded to the message that Jesus had died for me so that I could be forgiven for my sin and have a personal relationship with Him.  Death on the cross was the price He paid to save me.  I realized Jesus loves me and He wants to be Lord of my life! That is when I committed my life to Him and began a life-long journey of knowing, loving, and following Him.

            At first, even after making a personal commitment and inviting Jesus to be Lord of my life, I was still living as though I had to earn God’s love. I added more Christian activities — attended a weekly Bible study, taught children’s Sunday School, sang in the choir. As I grew in my knowledge of God, I even incorporated somewhat regular “quiet times” and began leading a women’s Bible study. 

            Several years passed before I finally began to truly understand that God loves us unconditionally, not based on our Christian activities and trying harder to please Him. He was willing to die so that we could have a relationship with Him.  He desires to be Lord of our lives.  He wants to live His life through us. He wants us to be His hands and feet, going where He wants us to go and serving where He wants us to serve.  His Holy Spirit indwells every follower of Jesus and equips us for what He calls us to do.

            Perhaps we think negatively of this master/servant relationship, having to give up our freedom, our rights, the things we think we need to make us happy.  But actually, it is only as we surrender ourselves completely to God that we can experience the joy and fulfillment, the abundant life He intends for us.  Anything else we seek may offer temporary pleasure, but nothing else will completely satisfy us and give the deep joy and peace as we experience in loving relationship to Him. 

              It is easy to just go through the routine of living day after day, responding to the urgent situations that demand our attention, being drawn to all kinds of activities, without ever stopping to ask God what He would choose to do with our life. I pray that God will draw us closer to Himself and give us the desire expressed by this song:  “Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee.  Take my hands…my feet…my voice…my lips…my silver and my gold…my intellect…my will…my heart…my love.”  The last verse ends with “Take myself and I will be ever, only, all for Thee.” 

PERSONAL REFLECTION

Read again I Corinthians 6:19-20 You are not your own, for you have been bought with a price…

Is Jesus truly Lord of your life, or are you just going through all the right motions of being a Christian?

If you are still living life as if it is your own, you can ask God to change your heart and make you willing to live completely for Him. I encourage you to spend time alone with Him each day acknowledging that you are not your own.  Ask Him how He wants to live His life through you today.  Jesus bought you with the price of His own life.