November 25, 2011

Today’s devotional reading comes from 1 Corinthians 7:23.

“Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.”

Many Christians today have divided loyalties.  While we may love Jesus and say that we are His servants and will only serve Him, often, in practice, we are slaves to people and things.

Many, for instance, are slaves to people’s opinions and, for this reason, are afraid to witness to families, friends, and co-workers because they are afraid that they’ll become the black sheep of the family or be shunned by their friends and business associates or ostracized at work.

We forget that Jesus said that any man who would be ashamed to confess Him before men He would not confess before His Father.  One oft-overlooked verse in the Book of the Revelation also tells us that the fearful will not enter into Heaven (21:8).

Now, we are sealed by the Holy Spirit and our names are already written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, so our entrance into Heaven is guaranteed.  Nevertheless, we should not flirt with death. 

Remember, we have the victory in Christ Jesus.  We shall live forever.  Why on earth, then, would we be concerned with what the dead have to say about us?  Believe me, you will never see me in a cemetery asking the residents what they think of me.  I hope I will never see you there either.

Why then should you be afraid?  Witness!

We are bought with a price: the precious blood of Jesus Christ.  Let us not pour it down the gutter fretting over what the world thinks about us.  Most people, regardless how they seem in public, have a low opinion of themselves because each knows his own heart and what he has done and is capable of doing.  Each person in some way has convicted himself of sin.  Their opinion of us, then, is a non-issue.

Fear of others’ opinions makes us slaves to their opinions.  Jesus did not set us free only for us to enslave ourselves again.

Let us also remember that our brothers and sisters are dying all over the world for their witness of Jesus Christ.  For the most part, we here “have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.”  We, therefore, have no excuse. 

Witness.

 

Remember that we are bought with a price.

The Still Man