Articles
We Are The Lord's – Romans 14
We Are The Lord's – Romans 14
Paul wrote that "...none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s" (Rom. 14:7-8).
The church is the Lord's church, the 'day' is the Lord's day, the supper is the Lord's supper, and I... I am the Lord's man. Is that TRUE? All of us that were baptized were baptized INTO Christ. When we were converted we put on Christ. We were washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord (1Cor. 6:11). YET I must live this out in my life.
Does this mean that I no longer have my own life? Yes and No. The life you now live you live by the faith. All of our relationships and obligations have the Lord involved. He is to be involved both as the foundation and the center. How I work, how I relate to my family, how I conduct myself in public, it all is colored by my faith in the Lord. In everything our aim is to be pleasing unto the Lord. In every aspect we are to live so that God is glorified.
Each day is filled with thousands of choices. Some of these choices are small and rather inconsequential, but others are major life changing ones. Each of them however carries their own consequences. Each of them in some way affects all of the others. How do you balance your life in the midst of all of these demands and choices? That is the question.
There is of course the perpetual problem that life constantly changes. The moment you get it balanced, things change. You need to adjust your priorities and schedules. We all have set in class and listed what 'should be our priorities'. I do think that we get this list organized correctly - on paper. It is just that in translating that into our lives it gets lost or at least changed. The Lord is first: really? Family? Job? Church? Community? etc.
A good balance in all of this is simply difficult. Such balance requires some very honest introspection. In spite of all the self-help books that have been written, all the classes and sermons taught, and all of the tv specials that have been aired, it is easy to get up in the morning and just live. We do what is needed at the moment.
So back to our text, to die to the Lord requires living to the Lord. Living to the Lord is putting the Lord into the middle of all your choices each day. Step back and take a hard look. Be honest with yourself.
Hugh DeLong
