Not Mine

“For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s” [1 Corinthians 6:20]

There was a certain man [a Christian] whose story became popular amongst believers several years ago. It was said that he, while on a train, was asked by a group of men to play a game with them aboard the train. Apparently, the other men required one more person to complete the team that was needed to play this game. To the men’s surprise, the Christian Brother on the train replied their request with the words “sorry, I did not come with my hands.” The other guys, looking at him in utter shock and disbelief, considering that he looked in perfect condition to them, asked him [pointing toward his hands] “what about these?” Without hesitation, this believer on the train said “oh no, these are not mine!” At this point, the men on the train thought that there must be something wrong with the man to whom they had made a request; who knows, they may have thought to themselves “why, out of everyone on this part of the train, did we choose to ask this crazy man?”

However, the Christian Brother began at those words - “not mine” - to preach to them the life in Christ. He went on to explain that Jesus had paid with His own life for him, so the life that he lived, he lived as unto the man [Jesus] that purchased him with His own blood. Paul knew this same thing and so he could say boldly “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” [Galatians 2:20]. It is high time we believers began to recognize that we were bought by Jesus and for a very high price at that. There is a popular picture that many Christians have of a sinking man who Jesus came and rescued. But, no brothers and sisters; He did not rescue us like that from the water by throwing us a rope or sending in divers. The right picture is that we were legally condemned to be drowned for our wrongs, but He came and surrendered Himself in our place. He did not just rescue you and me like that; He was drowned in sin, condemnation, and judgment in our place.

Paul in Acts 20:28 referred to “the church of God, which He [Jesus] purchased with his own blood”. For that high price, there is a kind of life we ought to live. Since we owe Him our lives, we ought to now live as unto Him, fulfilling every desire of His. Let us stand up and begin to submit our goals, ambitions, aspirations, relationships, and decisions to Him. Let us be truly lost in Him. Understand that He is the Only Wise God, and He did not bring you to the world to run men’s programs [men’s programs = birth, elementary school, middle/high school, college, work, marriage, bear kids, more money, and death]. Life can be more fulfilling than what you are currently experiencing or what those before you have experienced. There is something special and unique about YOU and ME. We need to yield ourselves to the HolyGhost in prayer and study of the Word till He makes His vision as clear to us as it was made to Paul in Acts 9. First, however, we need to stir up a desire. Let us begin NOW to develop a strong desire to be who God planned for us to be – that man that God so badly wanted us to be that He didn’t mind giving up His only Son for a chance that we would become that man.

Please, kindly share with us your comments and thoughts, but most importantly, testimonies of things, habits, persons, relationships, goals, and dreams that you had to give up in order to permit God’s will in your life. Someone somewhere in the world just may be encouraged by the strength of God that you demonstrated.