Bought With A Price

 

I’ll start with a story. I’ll try to make it as short as I can.

 

Several years ago, I was leaving a friend’s house and stopped to help bring some things inside. They objected, but I said, “It’s OK. What difference will a few minutes make?” Those words echoed in my brain as I said them. As I was driving home, I came upon an accident that had just happened on the freeway. I stopped to help out. Another gentleman stopped after me and told me that I could go on, that he’d stay until the police arrived. Since it was already after midnight, I agreed, thinking to myself that those few minutes I stayed at my friend’s house may have kept me out of the accident.

 

The following day, I read in the paper that, a few minutes after I left, a car came down the freeway, lost control and ran into the accident scene, killing the man who had taken my place. I was stunned. I struggled to take it all in.

 

A few days later, I went to see a friend to help him with his taxes. He said that God wanted him to give me a Bible verse. Mind you, I hadn’t told anyone what had happened and my friend never gave a verse to me at any other time. The verse was Isaiah 43:4, “Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life”.

 

Needless to say. I was floored. I realized in a very personal way what Paul meant when he said, “You are not your own; you were bought at a price” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). Since that day, I’ve tried to serve God faithfully, to always seek His will in all that I do.

 

My story is not unique to me. It’s true for all of us, whether we stop to think about it or not. We were all headed for death until Jesus came to take our place. We owe everything to Him.

 

In my last post, I talked about how we belong to God because we have been bought at the price of Jesus’ life. It was the greatest price ever paid in the history of the world, giving evidence of God’s great love for us and how much He values us.

 

How can we make this knowledge part of our everyday life? Here are just a few thoughts.

 

1. Pray like Jesus prayed. Jesus gave the Our Father as an example for us. “Hallowed be thy name”. Begin by praising God. “Thy Kingdom come”. Seek to advance God’s work on earth. “Thy will be done”. Seek always to do His will in every area of life. When we pray like this, we can have the expectation that our prayers will be answered. Jesus tells us, “Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours” (Mark 11:24).

 

2. Always keep in mind that you belong to God. We shouldn’t see this in a negative fashion. When you get married, you give up some of your freedom but you do so joyfully because you are united with the one you love. Since we belong to God, we aren’t free to do whatever we want. The good news is that living in accordance with God’s will leads us to our best and most joyful life.

 

3. Take good care of yourself. When you rent a house or car or borrow something from someone else, you treat it with special care because you have a responsibility to the one it belongs to. Going back to Paul’s words to the Corinthians, “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? …..Honor God with your bodies” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). Physically, mentally, and spiritually make a home that the Spirit can dwell in.

 

4. Believe that God is in the room with you. As you ponder your daily decisions, ask Him for His input. Make prayer a part of all you do. For more on this, you can review my earlier post - Seeking God’s Will – at (https://www.blogger.com/u/2/blog/post/edit/5174283115616278386/6744010548788924546).

 

5. Trust God to take care of you. If you rent a house, you have the expectation that the owner will maintain it and keep it in good condition. Since we are God’s people, we believe that He will provide for us. His great love demands nothing less. As Paul says, “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32).

 

May we daily glorify God with our lives.