ODJ: How We Live

October 14, 2017 

READ: Romans 6:1-18 

Give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God (v.13).

Baby Jeremy was born with a condition in which his bile ducts were absent, causing bile to build up inside his body and damage his liver. The only option to prevent his death was a liver transplant. Thankfully for Jeremy, his father underwent a lengthy medical procedure to provide healing for him. Jeremy was given a new liver and a new lease on life.

I wonder: What kind of person will Jeremy grow up to become? As the years go by, will this momentous event become just a distant memory—having little influence on the way he lives? Or will it deeply impact how he lives his life?

In some ways, all believers in Jesus share a similar story with Jeremy. We too were living on borrowed time. But we were given a new lease on life because of another’s sacrifice. Jesus gave Himself—His very life—so that we could live abundant, meaningful lives now and for all eternity with God.

So how, in light of His amazing sacrifice, should we live? The apostle Paul exhorts: “Give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God” (Romans 6:13). He went on to elaborate: stop sinning (v.15), “choose to obey” God (v.16) and “become slaves to righteous living” (v.18).

Paul knew that it wouldn’t be easy. We’ll struggle to obey God in this life, and we’ll often live to please ourselves or seek our glory rather than please Him and seek His glory. Thankfully, we’re not without help. Jesus didn’t simply give us new life; He now lives within us by His Spirit (8:10). Through His enabling power, we can live in a way that shows Christ didn’t die in vain.

—Poh Fang Chia

365-day-plan: Acts 5:17-42