Spiritual Thought for the Week 2009/6/14

Spiritual Thought for the Week
Have you ever thought of the characteristics of a Christian? Now that we are Christians, is there any distinction that makes us different from others in this world? Paul tells us a Christian is one who lives only for Christ. “If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord.”(Romans 14:8) The basic characteristic of a Christian is that he/she confesses Jesus Christ as Lord. We are saved by the Lord. We belong to him. We are no longer that old, self possessed person who belongs to himself and lives to himself only. We no longer use the Lord to meet our own ends, and to satisfy our own demands. For not letting Jesus be Lord is wrong. Our direction in life is wrong. This is because our past life has been crucified and we cannot live in the past any more.
The Lord’s salvation is to free us from the bondage of sin. In fact it is to rid us from the old person which is the old Adam. For that life was rotten corrupted and defiled. It was adversary to God. It was inconsistent to people. Only through dying together with the Lord on the cross we can find a new way out. This is the only route to righteous living before the pleasing sight of God.
If any one should believe in Christ let him live no longer for himself but live a life holy and acceptable to the Lord. Otherwise we can not call ourselves Christians. And our lives will lead to the wrong direction. It will give no meaning or value. All it can do is nothing but offending and showing unworthiness before God. But living for the Lord gives us peace and strength. We can bear witness to men and give glory to God.
Men are used to live for themselves only. Christians have to learn to live for the Lord. Our life belongs to him. He died for us. He rose from the dead for us so that we can live for him. It is only fair and right that we live a life that belongs to him. As Paul said, “For Christ’s love compels us,” (II Corinthians 5:14) And he admonish us, “You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” (I Corinthians 6:20)
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