Devotionals

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1 Corinthians 6:19-20 …you are not your own? For you were bought at a price…
Written by Naomi Cassata


When you surrender your life to God, you are giving him the reigns. You are laying down your own will for the will of God. You are saying that you don’t want to live out your life for your pleasure but for His pleasure alone. Galatians 2:20 says it perfectly, I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. This scripture can be mind boggling to someone who doesn’t live according to it. When we choose to receive Christ into our life, our spirit is being renewed; it has become new. This is what being “born again” refers to. Our past has been wiped clean and we now belong to God. We’ve laid down our old lives and have taken up a new life in and for Him.

Someone once asked me, “Why did Jesus have to die on the Cross?” I explained to them that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins. (Matthew 26:28) Anyone that comes to the Father must first go through Jesus because he is the ransom that was paid for our lives. What I lost when I laid down my life is nothing compared to what I’ve gained when I chose to live for God. Matthew 16:25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Throughout life we are searching for our purpose and it’s much more than “living and dying.” If we sow seed to the flesh we will reap according to it, but if to the spirit, we will reap according to the spirit. The choice is ours. V. 26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul. You can be sold out to two things, God or the world. Being sold out to the world may bring you riches, fame and happiness for a season, but in the end you will lose it all. You can not take things of the world with you when you die. It all stays here. ( ) You will stand before the judgment seat of Christ and give an account for what you were sold out to here on earth: the flesh or God?

The world is searching for peace, joy and acceptance and all that is found in Him. Philippians 3:7-8 But what things were gain to me, these I counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ. Wow, that scripture is powerful and we can learn a great deal through it. What things in life that are considered great gain are nothing compared to knowing Christ and living for Him. Nothing is more excellent in life than this. We’ve sadly lost this concept. It’s become a common non-important notion in the church that we must take back.

We too often forget that we are not our own. We want the benefits of Christianity without paying the price for them: Living Holy, pleasing God in our choices, not setting anything evil before our eyes, loving our neighbor as ourselves and even being committed to our spouses until death do us part. These choices bring blessings into our lives. We belong to God and must walk according to His word above all we do.

Do you know that believing and walking in God’s word is more important than anything else you can do on earth? Getting an education, finding a spouse, or getting promoted at work, all fall way short of obeying God’s word. The former things are only temporal; the later of obeying God, will bring eternal rewards. Too many of us aren’t living according to Galatians 2:20. We are not to make decisions based on what we want to do, but what is pleasing in God’s sight, according to His word. God is not overly concerned with our happiness as much as he is with our obedience.

You can always tell a person who truly believes “their life is not their own.” They would rather disappoint man than offend a Holy God. Their sight is on an eternal reward in Heaven rather than a short lived pleasure on earth. The word of God is his bread, for in it he finds his nourishment.

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