Yes, Following Jesus Includes This

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Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body. 2 Corinthians 6:19-20

A man decided to donate a relatively small piece of land to his church. It was swampy and not suitable for development.  Soon after, the church had the land appraised and coal was discovered. A geologist was called in and an exploratory well brought up oil!  In the course of oil production at the site, uranium was discovered near the vein of coal.

Now the plot of land was worth 1,000 times what it was it when donated.  The former owner was understandably conflicted, but decided, “No, when I gave the land, I gave everything on, above and below the surface. I gave it to you, God”

Every person who would say, “God, my life is yours” faces this very issue in some way. Let’s make it personal.  Are you a follower of Jesus who is unmarried and committed to celibacy? What will you do when you meet that attractive, exciting person who says they’re a Christian, but doesn’t think that God cares who you sleep with?

Here’s what God says about you–body, soul and spirit: “Don’t you see that you can’t live however you please, squandering what God paid such a high price for?  The physical part of you is not some piece of property belonging to the spiritual part of you. God owns the whole works.  So let people see God in and through your body” (2 Corinthians 6:19-20 The Message).

The follower of Jesus has a daily, all-or nothing decision to make because Jesus wants every single valuable part of us.

 

Resource reading: 1 Corinthians 6:12-20