|
News for the Pews |
Home
5th November 2024
TuesdayReflection
************************
'Jon Bloom'
'Staff writer, Desiring God (.com)'
************************
You Are Not Your Own
Your body does not belong to you.
Do you believe this?
I don't mean doctrinally believe it - if you're a Christian, you of course believe that "you are not your own"
(1 Corinthians 6:19).
I mean do you functionally believe this?
It's not difficult to tell.
How you use your body reveals what you believe.
It can be difficult to admit, if we feel exposed by our functional belief.
Believe me, I know.
I have plenty of functional beliefs that fall short of my official beliefs, in varying degrees at varying times.
"In what part of your life have you functionally forgot that you belong to Jesus?"
The question isn't an exercise in shaming - for you or for me.
It's an exercise in honest assessment, in reality therapy, and, if needed, in repentance.
All of us fall short of the glory of God.
God knows this far better than we do, and he's made abundant provision for our shortfalls.
God wants us to live condemnation-free by taking full advantage of his endless supply of forgiving, restoring, encouraging, and empowering grace.
We can take a good, honest look at ourselves and ask: do we really believe that we are not our own?
Let's look at these Spirit-inspired, Paul-authored words in context:
Don't you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and who was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourselves but to God; he bought you for a price.
So use your bodies for God's glory.
Now, some Corinthians were probably new believers and perhaps didn't know.
But Paul's phrasing of the question makes it clear that he was giving a firm reminder to most readers who doctrinally knew, but whose behaviours revealed that they functionally forgot.
Do we knowingly behave with our bodies as if Jesus is engaged in our physical actions - all of them?
Or do we not functionally know?
"Gracious as he is, Jesus must still be our Master, which means we must obey him."
A bond-slave is not his own person. He has sold himself to someone else.
This bond-slavery of a Christian, however, is like no other.
Our Master bought us with the price of his own infinitely precious life in order to make us "free indeed".
What does that mean?
It means when he bought us, he freed us from our hell-bound slavery to sin.
He also bought for us the priceless gift of being adopted by the Father, as his very children, which makes us heirs with Jesus of his Father's kingdom and of infinite wealth.
If that wasn't enough, Jesus, our Master, both now and in the age to come, serves us beyond our wildest imaginations.
But, gracious as he is, Jesus must still be our Master, which means we must obey him.
For our master is whomever or whatever we obey.
As Christians, we know this.
The question is, do we really know?
Is Jesus the Master over our time, expenditures, investments, home size and location, education, career, marital status, parenting, friendships, church involvement, and ministry commitments?
If not, we do not functionally know what we think we know.
We need good, honest self-assessment.
What is the Spirit bringing to mind right now?
In what part of your life have you functionally forgotten, or better, functionally not believed, that you belong to Jesus?
What are you stewarding as if it is yours and not God's?
Follow the Spirit's lead and repent.
Your gracious Lord and Master stands with scarred arms wide open to receive, forgive, and cleanse you.
"You and I are not our own. We are Christ's."
You and I are not our own.
We are Christ's.
In every sense, we are Christ's - body, mind, and spirit.
We are members of Christ's body, our bodies are Christ's temple, and we are bond-slaves of Christ, who has made us children of his Father and fellow heirs of his estate - what a Master!
He is only, however, the Master of those who obey him.
That's why it's crucial that our functional knowing aligns with our doctrinal knowing.
Or as Paul said, "You are not your own. . . .
So glorify God in your body."
><(((°>
This is an edited version.
The full article and Bible references are avaiable on request
'Jon Bloom'
serves as teacher and cofounder of Desiring God.
He is the author of four books, including Not by Sight and most recently True to His Word.
He and his wife have five children and make their home in the Twin Cities.
Contact the Rector
The Revd.
Nic.Edwards
The Rectory,
Church Lane,
BUGBROOKE,
Northampton,
NN7 3PB
Land Line: 01604 - 815496
(Can be accessed from the mobile device)
Mobile: .....
E-mail:
thebeneficeofbhkandr at gmail dot com
Contact the Benefice Office
Sunday School Rooms, Church Lane,
BUGBROOKE, Northampton, NN7 3PB
Land Line: 01604 830373
E-mail:
thebeneficeofbhkandr at gmail dot com
Mon., Tues., Wed,, Thur., Fri.
9:00am to 11:30am
For Baptism bookings (Christenings)
to arrange an appointment please contact
the Benefice Office.
For Wedding bookings:
please contact the Benefice Office to arrange
an appointment.
Who Made This?
Seeing as you asked, if you can give helpful
advice or report factual corrections and
'deliberate mistakes',email:-
regparker3 at gmail dot com
Email addresses shown using words in an
attempt to avoid 'spam',
Type the email address replacing 'at' with '@',
and 'dot' with '.'
|