[04ctd]

Asking the Question


"You are not your own, for you were bought at a price." (1 Corinthians 6.19b ÔÇô 20a)

"Likewise he who is called as a free man is Christ's slave. You were bought at a price: do not become slaves of men. (1 Corinthians 7.22b-23)

If we are not our own, whose are we? Who bought us? It is Jesus who bought us, at a very expensive price (our businesses are also part of the package.)

Are we just friends of Jesus (John 15.15) or are we also bond slaves to Christ (Romans 1.1)? If bond slaves, then who controls our schedule? If I have been purchased, who determines how I spend my time? Is it not my owner?

This is very sobering. We are used to setting our own schedules and doing what we want. But I am no longer free to set my own schedule or make my own decisions. Jesus said I had to give up everything to be His disciple (Luke 14.33). That includes my right to set my own agendas and schedules.

This realization calls for three steps we need to take daily. The first is to consciously surrender our schedules to Christ and seek to be His disciple.

The second is to ask Him what He would have us do. Every major decision should be taken to Christ. Third, we must obey what He has told us to do. Our desires, what I want to do, are not of importance or significance. I am not my own, I have been bought with a price, and I gave up everything to follow Christ.

Extensive time in prayer in the morning is so important. We have to have time to surrender our schedule to Christ, ask about the issues and opportunities facing us, and then sit quietly while He impresses on our hearts what He wants us to do.

How else can we be effective for the Kingdom (John 15.5)? How else will we hear Him say: "Well done, good and faithful servant"?