Commit to Be Closer to God than Ever Before
Our lives prove our loyalty. You see, there are two camps, and they are at odds, complete opposites, and even at war. We cannot stand faithfully in both camps at the same time, for we are totally divided. Faithfully means exactly that: We are FAITHful to the side that matters most (to us). FAITHful means we are filled with FAITH, to the top and overflowing, consumed, and spilling out with HIS PRESENCE.
When I was fifteen, I chose to believe in the work of Jesus on the cross and in the grave, to accept Jesus as my Savior, and to confess my sinfulness against Him. In doing so, I committed my life to the Lord, meaning I chose my side. My life no longer belongs to me; it belongs to God.
Do you have a similar story, a testimony about the day you did the same? If so, then you (too) have committed your life to the Lord, meaning you have chosen your side. Your life no longer belongs to you; it belongs to God.
Thus, the ruler of the darkness likes to kick at us, to question us, to goad us, tempting us to ask: Does every part of our being REALLY belong to the Lord?
The short answer is YES, YES IT DOES: SPIRIT, SOUL, & BODY.
The long answer is the SAME, only longer in explanation. See with me Paul’s letter to those who live in Corinth, who are surrounded by idols tempting them to bend in their faithfulness to God. Let us read the truth: Our Body is the Lord’s—ALL OF IT.
“All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable.
(The 1st Letter of Paul to the Corinthians 6: 12-20 NASB)
All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything.
Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food, but God will do away with both of them.
Yet the body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body.
Now God has not only raised the Lord, but will also raise us up through His power.
Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?
Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute?
May it never be!
Or do you not know that one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body with her?
For He says, [the LORD GOD]
“THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH.”
But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him.
Flee immorality.
Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body.
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?
For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”
Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God, left heaven to come to earth for one reason: to pay a high price for our sin, to buy us back from the slavery of our sin, to redeem us, and to save us. Every person alive has the opportunity to choose to receive this payment, this gift of God, to be saved. From that moment, we are rooted and purchased by the shed blood of Jesus.
Every person alive also has the choice to reject Jesus.
Therefore, if you belong to Jesus, to the Lord’s camp, then do not follow selfish, carnal desires. We are to daily deny ourselves, lay down our cross, and follow Him.
Let us remember the importance of the statement: ALL of ME is HIS!
So, how important is it to glorify our Father in heaven in our actions, our attitudes, our words, and our bodies? EXTREMELY IMPORTANT!