To Really Live, Die

eDevotion

Encouragement for your daily walk with God 

You may have to brace yourself for this… To really live, you have to die. I know that sounds counter-intuitive, but it’s a biblical fact. Crazy, you say? Well, there are a lot of things in Christianity that sounds that way to some. And by the way, I’m not talking about physical death that leads to eternal life here. I’m talking about dying to the law so you can live to/for God right now.

The truth is, something powerful happens when we abandon our petty rules. We are set free for something bigger when we quit trying to please God while living for ourselves. 

Paul said it this way, “I died to the law so that I might live to/for God” [Galatians 2.19]. Interestingly, the translators added “to/for” in our English translations. Those words are not in the Greek text. It simply reads, “… that I might live God.” 

Here’s a question for you: What does to “live God” look like? Here are 4 things I came up with:

1. It isn’t a mandatory 15-minute quiet time every day. It’s freedom to engage with God all the time. 

2. It isn’t perfect adherence to rules. It’s confidence that I am led by the Holy Spirit moment by moment. 

3. It isn’t down-to-the-penny tithing. It’s hilarious generosity inspired by God and the awareness that everything belongs to Him. 

4. It isn’t putting people in their place. It’s seeing people as God sees them and being released from the need to always be right. 

Here it is in a nutshell: To “live God” is letting Jesus live in and through us.

A. W. Tozer may have said it best, “The reason why many are still troubled, still seeking, still making little forward progress is because they haven't yet come to the end of themselves.”

For through the law, I died to the law so that I might live for God. Galatians 2.19