A few Sundays ago, during our Lord’s Supper service, our praise team sang a song I had never heard..and it hasn’t left me since then. Part of the lyrics go like this:

“This life is not my own, oh this life is not my own. I am His, and His alone, this life is not my own. I was bought when Love was slain, what I cost, to pay death’s wage. Now ransomed, I am freedom’s slave, my Jesus raised me from the grave.” (by Selah)

Thursday of this week, we had a tragedy in our community that I posted about, and my post apparently hit a nerve because in just a few days its gone viral. I’ve never had that happen, and I was startled and overwhelmed by it. It was a tragedy because a woman made a horrible decision to pass a stopped school bus, hit two brothers, and one of them died. It has been tough…very tough. That one decision on her part has altered the lives of so many different people that it is staggering. And that lead me to this blog.

This life is not my own. I am sure many of you were taught the same thing I was as a child. Actions have consequences. Always. There is no escape. Bad actions generally lead to bad consequences, and vice versa. And like most people, I didn’t appreciate the wisdom of that until years later when I experienced it in my own life..usually through bad decisions, but sometimes through good ones. I am not alone. The vast majority of us have come to terms with this, and are fairly wise in our choices and actions. We make sacrifices, and give, and help others. We put ourselves second, third, etc and live in service to each other.

However…this life is not my own. If you are not a born again child of God, the meaning of this statement stops with the paragraph above. But if you are, it has a whole new meaning. Jesus died for us, and therefore we are NOT our own. We belong to Him, and that brings us into a whole new way of living. Our perspectives change, and we begin to understand Who we live for, and Whose we are. And Who, in today’s terms, is #1..and it’s not us!

“I an His, and His alone”. There are so many days when I get tired of myself. Tired of my struggles, my plans, and my abilities to live this life. So many times, at the end of the day (or week) I see where I have been selfish, preoccupied with what I want, and striving for me and my plans. And because I am human, and not God, and because I am subject to my own failings and shortcomings, I end up frustrated, tired, and empty. And then I realize that I have not been living for the One that owns me.

Which is why I love this song. And why it has stuck with me. Another part of the lyrics say “this world is not my home, my home’s been made at Heaven’s throne.” That is a true statement. Every Christian has an eternal home, with the Lord, and some days I just can’t wait to get there! There is great peace and calm in knowing that. There is also encouragement in realizing that some day I will be on the other side of this life, and it will all make sense.

But. Until then, this life is not my own. It belongs to Jesus. I owe Him my life, my plans, my dreams, and my full attention to His plan and purpose. And just like this bad decision this week has devastated our community, the decision to live my life for Him and His glory can totally change my community for ultimate good, and hopefully, prayerfully, point others to the same Owner..to begin their own relationship with Him.

I want that. I crave that. I so long to think that after I have left this world, that God will have been glorified by my being here. That He will be pleased that He created me, and that His death on the cross, resurrection, and giving new life to me through Him was what people saw the most, and remembered the most.

Did I mention that my post went viral? And that over 90,000 people now know this woman’s name and what she did? How about if our lives go viral, and hundreds of thousands of people find out what HE did! Wouldn’t that be amazing??