Spiritual Food for Thought for the Weekend

“No Longer Your Own”

1 Corinthians 6:17-20 

“But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit. 18 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. 19 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; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”

 There’s a great scene in the movie Ratatouille when the wannabe chef, Linguini, and a rat, Remy, begin to team up together. Up to this point, the boy has been downcast because he has little skill, but Remy, the rat, is passionate about food, and they learn that Linguini’s actions can be controlled when Remy tugs on his hair. Suddenly, it becomes a puppet situation; his body is no longer his own, but now he is completely at the disposal of a rat with incredible culinary talent. He raises his hands, grabs ingredients, chops, and cooks, all by the directions from this rat sitting inside his hat!

This is a useful depiction of what it looks like to be mastered by God. Today’s passage specifically references sexual immorality and the physical expression of honoring God; however, the sense of being owned by God applies beyond our sexuality and extends into all other fleshly behavior: jealousy, selfishness, pride, etc.

Without Him and left to our own devices, we are hapless and hopeless. But a life mastered by Him means that we can seriously exceed what we think our human capabilities are. We find ourselves more generous and patient than we would normally be. We find ourselves more gracious and compassionate. We find ourselves fighting the wars of the flesh with strength and diligence. A life mastered by God’s powerful Spirit is victorious in more ways than we can imagine.

Today, let’s take an inventory of areas in which God is Lord and Master over our lives. Are we being mastered by Him in all areas, or is there something we are withholding? Let’s ask Him to help us cede our control and let Him take over so that we can live in the freest, fullest, and best way.

Prayer: Father, thank You that You have offered me the abundant life. I want to take hold of it, but I confess that I often want control over how things go. Help me to surrender wholly to You and be mastered by You. Use me and change me so that I may life the full and abundance life in You.

Bible Reading for Today: Revelation 20-21