Living And Dying

           If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. (Romans 14:8)

Here we go again. It seems to me that I can’t get away from “what do we really believe?” Do we really believe we live for the Lord? Or that if we die, we die for the Lord? I can certainly believe it was true for Paul. I believe it to be true of the martyrs. They’re out there dying because they believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, Prince of Peace, Lord of Lord, and Second Person of the Holy Trinity. Me? Undoubtedly there are people out there who think life would be easier if people like me didn’t exist – but that’s not dying for the Lord.

As for living for the Lord, I would love to be able to say that I did so. It would be nice if He were – or were in – my every thought. I daresay life would be so much better if I obeyed His Word far more fully than I do. The best that I can say now is that I hope that when and if I am ever actually commanded to reject God, that I will have the strength and courage to say no even in the face of death.

That is not the same as living for Him now. And this is one of the problems I have with some of the books I read. They seem to decry any person whose every word and every thought is not “of God” as deceiving or being deceived about being a Christian. Reading their words – not God’s – makes one want to throw up one’s hands and submit to being one destined for Hell, because there seems no opportunity to the sort of champion of the faith they insist is the only one suitable for heaven.

In this issue, however, I also face one of the things I have come to believe – that God will direct my paths – that He will make sure I don’t miss my “exits” as I travel down the highway of life. And if I am not living and dying for Christ now, I fully expect that I will lead to do so more as time goes on.