I Belong To God

I Belong To God Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Romans 12:1

Christ gave the most extravagant gift. He gave His life for us.  As we express our gratitude with gift giving we must understand that the most extravagant gift we have to offer in response to His perfect gift is to surrender our lives to Him. We have a tremendous opportunity for Christ to live through us. Everything tangible thing we have been entrusted with came from Him.  There’s no point in re-gifting our presents and giving them to the One who gave them to us.  Emptying our lives so that the life of Christ can flow through us can be at times excruciating. To be alive but yet choosing to die to our desires, plans, or opinions can be challenging. The exponential return on His precious blood is that our hearts would become circumcised to Him and His very life would flow through ours. Make no mistakes. Circumcision of the heart is painful because yielding one’s life and denying self is unnatural. I once heard a bible teacher say “Being dead to ourselves and alive in Christ is the being more alive than we could ever be without Him!”  In primary school we labeled all of our belongings so others would know the proper owner. I wish our hearts would testify, “I belong to God.” “This belongs to God.” Everything belongs to God. Fancy Cars. Nice Houses. Savings Accounts. Retirement Funds. 501Ks. IRAs. Hoopties. Old Homes. No Homes. Checking Accounts. No Accounts. Children. Marriage.  Singleness. Clothes. Jewels. Bills. There is freedom in this. If I own nothing then nothing owns me.  The bills can’t keep me up at night because God’s money, God’s stuff, God’s.  It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. It doesn't matter what I think or feel its what He says.  I’m not finding a new trinket for Him. Not an extra hour on Sunday. I’m not picking a cause. Nor a women’s event. I’m going all out. I’m giving my best to Him because I belong to God.