Week 32 --- Romans 14:8

“If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.”

I think there's a lot of confusion on what it looks like to live to the Lord. I wish I knew better myself. I think a lot of us confuse living to the Lord with perfection. I know I do. We think that to live for Christ is an image of constant happiness, unparalleled spirituality and an absence of sin. What a lie we have told ourselves here, and not the life that Christ offers us. When I have experienced what I think is even just a small glimpse of the life Jesus gives to us, it is more about the assurance of comfort in sorrow, grace when it doesn't make sense to keep forgiving, and love and community in a world that is overrun with hurt and cruelty. I think the important thing for me in that verse up there is pointing out no matter what I do, whether live or die, I belong to the Him.

So what does it look like when we belong to someone? I have this instance in my mind, from probably 10 years ago when I was hanging out at a friend's house in Norfolk, NE. We were all sitting around watching tv, and Josh and Kassie had this sweet little boy who had just figured out how to get around more and get into things.

Timothy was crawling around on the floor and I didn't notice him get close to the tall glass cup of Hawaiian Punch kool-aid I was drinking (Kassie, to this day I associate the taste of the red kool-aid with feeling at home, in your house). Before I even noticed what happened he had picked that glass up over his head and dropped it on the wood floor, shattering pieces of glass, and spilling tons of red kool-aid all around him.

In that moment all I could think about was how to clean up all that glass quickly before he hurt himself. In the exact moment of me not knowing what to do, Timothy's dad was out of his seat, and picked his son up out of the mess he was in. It wasn't about cleaning up the mess, it was about lifting him up out of it. I have gotten myself into situations in life, where to try to help myself, would be like crawling through glass to get out. Our Heavenly Father loves us so much because we belong to Him, and rescues us from our sins on a daily basis. Lift up your arms instead of looking for your broom, you belong to Him. :)

I heard a speaker one time say that all the answers in the Lord are "Yes and Amen". I've been trying to say 'Yes' more, when I think God is asking me to do something. And don't get me wrong, he probably has to mention it like 12 times for me to get the slightest clue, but there are things that I know he wants us to do, and for me that's leading a Bible study. Do you know that I can't think of anything I'd rather do than talk to other women about stuff I'm figuring out in His word, or stuff I don't understand in His word? And I get to do this often, with my close friends, but I want to be in a position to stretch myself a little further. Jesus, if you have something to say to the 5 women that are meeting on Sunday nights, would you give me wisdom to know Your direction? That study starts this Sunday night, so if you think about it, would you pray for this group?