Reading With the People of God - #4 ComfortНамуна

Why is it essential in our faith to remember that "you are not your own"?

The short answer is it is exhausting to own ourselves. Alan Noble writes about this in detail in his book, You Are Not Your Own. Here is an excerpt from his book:

If I am my own and belong to myself, the first and most significant implication is that I am wholly responsible for my life. This is both an exhilarating and terrifying thought. And it's not just that I am responsible for my personal survival, for food and shelter and so on. I also need a reason to live. I need purpose and direction. I need some way to know when I am failing at life and when I am succeeding, when I am living ethically and when I am not. I must have some way of determining on my deathbed that I lived a good, full life.

Simply put, we were not designed to be our own; we were intended to belong to our creator. Noble writes about this paradigm shift later on in his book,

Whom we belong to makes all the difference in the world. If we belong to ourselves, we are radically free--with all the accompanying glory and terror. But if we belong to God, then our experience of belonging in the world has limits that we have not freely chosen. And some of those limits will defy a value system based on efficiency and measurable harm.*

As you reflect on this and seek to live out your belonging in life, take some time to thank the Lord for His good and gracious presence, ask Him in prayer to align your will with His will, and submit to His ways!

Today's prayer of illumination:

Heavenly Father, thank You for revealing that we belong to You, not to ourselves. Illuminate our hearts to understand this truth deeply. Guide us to align our will with Yours, surrendering to Your plans and purposes. May Your presence fill us with peace and joy as we live out our belonging in You. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Memorization Challenge of the Month:

Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 1

Q1. What is your only comfort in life and in death?

A1. That I am not my own, but belong— body and soul, in life and in death— to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.

He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven; in fact, all things must work together for my salvation.

Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.

* Alan Noble, You Are Not Your Own