Living For Whom?

Since Sunday I have had a hymn running through my mind, one we sang Sunday evening. Though we sang other hymns containing wonderful focuses both Sunday morning and Sunday evening, this one for some reason has continued to stick with me. Perhaps I need to take it more to heart. Perhaps it is a thought God wants me to center my focus on for a while. It is a hymn that touches on the concept of SURRENDER and perhaps if there is an area of life we struggle with most, that is one of them; a willingness to SURRENDER our life more fully to the Lord!

The hymn is titled “Live For Jesus” (Eden Reeder Latta and Frank M. Davis, 1892) If you have a hymnbook available I would encourage you to mediate on the words of the verses, but for now at least consider the chorus.

“Live for Jesus, live for Jesus; Give Him all thou hast to give;
On the cross the world’s Redeemer, Gave His life that thou mightst live.”

Paul expressed this needed focus to the church at Rome as follows:
“(7) For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. (8) If we live, we LIVE TO THE LORD, and if we die, we DIE TO THE LORD. So then, WHETHER WE LIVE OR WHETHER WE DIE, WE ARE THE LORD’S. (9) For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.” ( Romans 14:7-9 ESV)

Is that the picture of our life or are we still caught up in too much of ourselves? Part of the challenge Paul addressed in this chapter had to do with judgments (based upon personal opinions) being made against each other within the church at Rome. There was an apparent lack of consideration of weaker brothers. However, it is highly possible for ones who consider themselves to be the stronger to actually be the weaker, that being why it becomes difficult to see anything but their own viewpoint. Paul urged the moving of the focus away from self and instead SURRENDERING personal opinions and living for Jesus. As Paul declared, it was to this end (for this purpose) that Christ died, making it possible for us to be His in life and in death.

Writing to the church at Colossae, Paul encouraged…
“(3) For YOU HAVE DIED, and YOUR LIFE IS HIDDEN WITH CHRIST IN GOD. (4) When CHRIST WHO IS YOUR LIFE appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” ( Colossians 3:3-4 ESV)

How much has Jesus become our life? Our SURRENDER to Him begins with dying to self. Consider the chorus of that hymn again.

“Live for Jesus, live for Jesus; Give Him all thou hast to give;
On the cross the world’s Redeemer, Gave His life that thou mightst live.”

The degree to which we are willing to SURRENDER our life to Jesus reflects how much appreciation we have for what He has done for us. He died so that we might live. Let us die to self so that we can live for Him. We need to SURRENDER to Him, making Him our life. By so doing, whether we live or die we can eternally belong to Him.

Have a great day LIVING TO APPEAR WITH HIM IN GLORY!
Carl

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