Day 2387 of the 7 day Bible verse challenge.
1 Corinthians 6:20 NIV
A lot has been done for us. A lot has been given to us. This chance to start over and live our lives for a better purpose than the ones that we prioritized before hearing about Christ. The opportunity to be forgiven for every mistake that we've made. The gift of freedom from the suffering and guilt that our pasts deserve. The chance at a new life spent serving God and not ourselves or our limited understanding of what matters. The list goes on, but it all points to one question that we need to ask ourselves as the recipients of a grace that we can't earn: What are we doing with it?
The verse just preceding this one tells us that we are not our own. We are not here to simply focus on ourselves and spend our lives doing what seems good enough to us. Our lives are not about seeking our own personal comfort or pleasure or satisfaction. We were bought at a price, a price that we could not pay and live to tell about it. We were redeemed from the darkness of sin through the sacrifice of the only Son of the One True God. He carried our sins and all those days that we spent living for ourselves to the grave so that we could finally see that there’s a way to live our lives that means more than that.
But did we get that message? Do we understand just how incredible His love and salvation are? Did we allow that gift to change us, to turn us off of the road of sinful and selfish living onto one that points to Christ instead? Or are we still doing the very things that put Him on that tree? Are we still running up the tab because we assume that He will keep paying it off for us? Are we serving Him in return for His mercy or are we still allowing sin to be our leader? Are we honoring Him with the way that we live our lives by doing everything to bring Him glory?
I think a lot of time we get stuck looking at the pretty side of our faith. We think about all the hope and excitement we have in His promises. We cherry-pick the verses that make us feel good and allow us to stay on the bright side of things. But if we don’t ask ourselves the hard questions then our faith consists of nothing but comfort. If we don’t evaluate the choices we make then we’ll never see where we’re going wrong. If we don’t study the verses that call us out and remind us just how far from perfect we are then we just might conveniently forget.
The truth is often uncomfortable. It opens our eyes to the realization that we’re not always right. It reminds us that we have plenty of work still to do. But if we ignore that truth then we only end up living a lie that keeps us separated from God and the full transformation that we need to experience in order to die to sin and live for something better. The truth is that our lives are full of sin. They’re full of mistakes and dumb choices. They’re evidence that we’ve chosen every other path than the one that leads to God. They’re proof that when left to doing things our way, we will always revert to the sinful nature that we were born with.
That’s not good enough. He deserves more than some half-hearted attempt to be a little less rebellious when we’re feeling a little extra guilty. He deserves more than watching us continue trying to play on both sides of the fence. He deserves absolutely everything we can give because He gave us everything we don’t deserve. Our faith can’t be part-time. It can’t be a hobby. We can’t just check off some box that reminds us to do something good every day and tell ourselves that we’re doing enough. He has done more for us than we can possibly fathom. Spending every moment praising Him and humbly serving His will for our lives for as long as we have left is the very least that we can do.
We can never pay Him back for all that He’s given us. But that doesn’t mean we can’t try. It doesn’t mean that we can’t set our sights on continuing to put the sin in our lives to death and living in a constant state of repentance and effort fighting to do the very best that we can possibly do. We will never be perfect, but that has sadly become an excuse that we often refer to whenever we do something wrong. In reality it should be a battle cry reminding us to try even harder to do the impossible because that’s exactly what’s been done for us.
So again, what are we doing with it? If our lives don’t express our understanding and gratitude for the gifts that we’ve been given then something is wrong and we better figure it out. There’s no question that He has already taken care of the hard part. It’s time for us to start upholding our end of the deal.
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