Verse: Romans 14:8-9
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. 9 For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.
Devotion
In Paul’s letter to the Roman church, he has a section we call chapter 14 where he warns about judging other. Lots of really good thoughts on why we shouldn’t do that. Stuck in the middle of that teaching are these two verses. These could go unnoticed but Paul, through the Holy Spirit, included them for a purpose. He wanted to make sure that the Romans (and us) know that everything we do is for the Lord, even dying.
I remember Christian, when he was a teen, returning from a Youth With A Mission ministry in Texas and he told me that they had to do chores where they stayed. When they heard the list of chores to be done, no one signed up to clean the toilets. Who would want to?! He felt that he was supposed to do that, as unto the Lord.
We often want to have the Lord use us in lofty ways. When I was saved, I told God that I would quit my job and go anywhere, even Africa, if that is what he wanted me to do. But that is not what he wanted. He wanted me to stay where I was and be a Christian light in my family and in my current job.
One of the devotions I read daily is “My Utmost for His Highest” by Oswald Chambers. It can be difficult to read because it was written in 1935. But it is very challenging. Yesterday’s devotion was about 1 Corinthians 10:31, “Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” While we want to be heroic for God, it is “another thing to go through every day glorifying God when there is no witness, no limelight, no one paying the remotest attention to us. Our human relationships are the actual conditions in which the ideal life of God is to be exhibited.”
Jesus died for us to free us from sin so that we could live every day with Him leading and guiding us, through reading the Bible and through listening to the Holy Spirit. He is the Lord of everything, even the dead.
So you might not have some amazing thing that you are going to do today. You are not going out to witness to thousands. You are going to clean your toilets today. You are going to drive your kids to soccer practice. You are going to meet with friends to watch a movie. Through your every day life activities, you are going to impact others. Your kids, your friends, your spouse are going to see God through you. Every day! Let God be the Lord of you this day and every day in every mundane act. That is most heroic thing you can do.
Prayer
Help me, Lord, to walk with you today in everything that I do. Pour out your love and compassion and healing to others through me. Help me to be yours even when no one is looking and I don’t get the credit.
Author: Brad Dunn
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