Bought And Paid For

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. Paul

     There is a song from a few decades ago that exemplifies the attitudes of many today to their detriment and the detriment of others.  The song is sung by a group called “The Animals.”  Some of its words are…

It's my life and I'll do what I want
It's my mind and I'll think like I want
Show me I'm wrong, hurt me sometime
But someday I'll treat you real fine.

     On the surface this may sound freeing and individualistic; however, it can be unhealthy if a person makes it their rule for life minus an understanding of the true and living God.  Like many rockers who wound up on the suicide wall of infamy, this philosophy can be detrimental to a person’s life.  Think about it:  It’s my life and I will do drugs if I want.  It’s my mind and I will do stinking thinking if I want.  It’s my life; I will cheat on my spouse if I want.

     I cannot tell you how many people I know who have wrecked their lives with their drug(s) of choice, and they have sadly wrecked the lives of those whom they are supposed to have loved.  I cannot tell you how many, whom I know, who have ravaged their homes because they wanted what they wanted… a relationship outside the marriage.  I can tell you that you may want to do stinking thinking, if you want; however, stinking thinking usually winds up producing stinking living… or maybe I should say stinking dying.  We usually do wind up reaping what we sow. What goes around does wind up coming around.

     When Jesus came, he came to give us life, and he came to give us this life “to the full.” (John 10:10b)  When Jesus came, he came to give us the truth, and when we know the truth, the truth will set us free. (John 8:36.) As a matter of fact, when we know Jesus as our Lord/Savior we really learn that, when “the Lord sets us free we are free indeed.” Once he died on the Cross shedding his blood to redeem us (forgive every single sin)  and sacrificing his body to sanctify us (make us holy/healthy), he conquered hell, death and the grave so that we can truly say  “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.” Let us “stand firm and not let ourselves be burdened by a yoke of slavery.” (Galatians 5:1)

   So how do we walk in this freedom?  How do we NOT let ourselves be burdened by the yoke of slavery? We turn from sin to Christ.

• We make a conscious decision to daily deny ourselves and we "take up the Cross, and we follow him."
• We fellowship with other Christ followers. 
• We hangout with them. 
•  We believe in him who sets us free from our brokenness and pain… our sin, sorrow and shame. 
• We follow the guidance of The Word that is truth.
• We listen to the Spirit of Truth
• And we recognize we are NOT our own.  “We are bought with a price.” 
• Each one of our bodies is the “Temple of The Holy Spirit.” 
• We determine to glorify God with our “body and our spirit.”  
• We sing a NEW song...

“It’s God’s life I will do what HE wants;
It’s God's mind and it is Christ’s mind;
So I will think what HE wants;
This is NOT wrong.
This is my song.
Today I will treat you real fine.”

Remember Y'all God Bought And Paid For You.
So Go On Out And Be Blessed 2day…
Especially Today.

SoJourner