“For we don’t live for ourselves or die for ourselves. If we live, it’s to honor the Lord. And if we die, it’s to honor the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. Christ died and rose again for this very purpose – to be Lord both of the living and of the dead.” (Romans 14:7-9 NLT)
Please don’t miss the context and intent of what Paul is saying. To “live” as Paul is using it here isn’t simply to have breath in our lungs, to be a functioning human being, it’s to be born-again of the Spirit of God. It’s to have the life of God inside us, active in our thoughts, attitudes, and actions.
Notice Paul said: “we don’t live for ourselves or die for ourselves.“ Is it safe to say “self-centeredness” and “self-focus” aren’t Christian virtues? What’s my point? Simply this – we too often want to coast through life like it’s all about us. In some ways it’s like very little, if anything, even enters our mind except it pertains to us personally or, at least, something to which we can personally relate.
This morning, I had an automated call for my “Cognitive stimulation.” Because of my Alzheimer’s, I’m part of an ongoing program to stimulate my brain and increase my cognitive function. I receive 4-5 calls a week with different exercises designed to awaken parts of my brain that aren’t working very well. This morning the questions must have bombarded the sleeping part of my brain, because it was like someone was speaking a foreign language.
The automated voice told me a story about Elvis, then asked me questions about what they’d told me, and I could remember very little about what was said. Then they did the same thing with a story about the Golden Gate bridge, with the same result. I remembered almost nothing. What’s my point? We tend to do the same thing with the Bible and spiritual truth. We listen, but we don’t hear.
There’s no cognitive investment, no memory of it because we don’t see the point; we don’t make the connection between our life and that to which we’re reading or hearing. Here’s where the proverbial “rubber meets the road!” Unless the Lord returns, we’re all going to die. I believe that’s why Paul said, “if we die,” but either way, whether we live or die we don’t do those things for ourselves.
Okay, then for whom DO we do them? For the Lord, certainly, but also for those in our spheres of influence. Here’s the crux of the whole situation: while we’re breathing, we owe our life and allegiance to the Lord Jesus – to represent Him well so that He is honored and glorified in and through our life. But that only happens if we’re paying attention! If we’re intentionally and purposely wanting that to happen.
And it won’t happen unless and until we’re giving the Lord our full attention and focus. We can’t be focused on us and Jesus at the same time. It’s like me thinking of what I want to write in an article and listening to things about Elvis or the Golden Gate Bridge.
Jim Elliot said: “When it comes time to die, make sure that’s all you have to do is die.” That’s packed with so much, but suffice it to say, we won’t be ready to die, to leave this earth and part from this life, until we settle things with the Lord Jesus. What do I mean?
We’re going to meet Him one way or another, prepared or unprepared, but to be unprepared means hell and an eternity apart from Him. Some give that no thought and think it’s no big deal, but they only reveal their ignorance of eternal things when they think that way.
Who will help them see more clearly if not us? And how can we be ready to share with them when we’re not even sure we’re ready to die ourselves?
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed
Walking With Jesus 