Daily Devotional for Friday January 20, 2012

Giving Your Life for Your Faith in Christ

(Romans 12:1; Philippians 1:21; Galatians 2:20)

In a recent Devotional, I proposed a hypothetical situation that less then 1 percent of believers will ever have to face in this life. That is having to literally give your life for your faith in Christ. My heart was encouraged by thousands of people who responded and said that they would gladly die for Christ.

Knowing those who get this Devotional, I am not surprised. This tends to be a spiritually mature group of people; some are pastors, some are in full-time service to the Lord as missionaries, some are part of Christian organizations, but the overwhelming majority who get this Devotional each day are just faithful believers who live their lives daily for the Lord.

I waited a few days on purpose to follow up that hypothetical situation. Today, the deeper question to you is this. If you are willing to DIE for your faith, are you willing to LIVE your faith?

You see, THAT is the question that each one who claims to know Christ as their Savior must answer every morning. It is actually much easier to die for Him then it is to LIVE for Him. But that is what the Bible calls for us to do when Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:31 when he said "I die every day" and in his letter to the church at Galatia when he says in Galatians 2:20 that " . . I no longer live, but Christ lives in me." Every one of us who knows Christ as our Savior must die to self each day, so that the Lord can live through us.

The entire point of this Devotional today is boiled down to one simple question. If you will die for Him, will you LIVE for Him?

To answer "yes" means that you will open your heart to the Lord, you will surrender your life to Him today, and you will "die to self" each day, so that Christ can live through you. The Bible tells us that when we accept Christ into our hearts, it is no longer our life any longer. Our life belongs to Him.

I love you and care about you SO MUCH!!! I pray that you will take some time today to spend with God. Spend some time with Him and re-commit your life to Him. Tell God that your life is His. No matter what He asks you to do, no matter where He asks you to go, YOUR life belongs to God!

My friend, today is the day that I am bringing you face to face with the only real question that matters in our Christian journey. In reality, there is only one thing that God has ever asked of you . . that you give Him your life, wholly and unconditionally surrendered to Him.

Very few will ever be asked to die for your faith in Him. However, EVERYONE who professes their faith in Jesus is asked to LIVE for Him. My question for you today is simple. Will YOU live for Jesus?

In His love and service,

Your friend and brother in Christ,

Bill Keller