Monday, November 24, 2014
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Communicating across the miles these days is amazing and occasionally frustrating. Not too long ago, you would just call someone and if they weren't there you'd try later. And you'd have to do that from a land line. Well today, we've got smart phones, and laptops, and Face-Time, you can text, and leave a voice-mail, video chat.
It's helpful, but let's face it, sometimes it's frustrating. Now look, I admit, I'm Mr. Low Tech, so I'm amazed even by old school FAX machines. We use them every once in a while. You can transmit a letter or document on a phone line. Now I don't have to understand that, I just think it's great!
But there are glitches. Someone gave me a phone number once that I needed, so I dialed it and it rang. This high-pitched squeal suddenly hits my ear. I said, "What is wrong? What happened to the phone, is it out of order?" No, it was the number for this man's FAX line. You've probably had that happen. It's not a telephone line where you just make calls. No, you send FAXs on it. That's what it's for, that's all it's for. So I just got this squeal back. Like a lot of people, there's this one phone line that is totally for receiving FAXs. We have that in our office. It's not designed to have a conversation with guys like me. It won't work for phone calls. It's called a dedicated line; as I discovered with an ear full of squealing. A dedicated line is for only one purpose.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have WORD WITH YOU today about "Exclusive Use."
Our word for today from the Word of God; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, "Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God. You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your body." See, God says He purchased your life with the ultimate price-the life of His one and only Son. You're the property of God now.
When I was a kid, speakers always used to talk about dedicating your life. Well I got a new understanding of that since the advent of dedicated phone lines, FAX lines. It's designed to be used for only one purpose, like putting a reserve sign on a restaurant table. No one else can have this table. It can't be used for any other purpose than that to which it is dedicated.
God's Word is calling us here to dedicate our life to Jesus Christ on the basis of His total sacrifice for us. Revelation 5:9, "With Your blood, Jesus, you purchased men for God." My guess is you may have dedicated yourself to Jesus at least officially at some point in your life, but is that working out in your everyday life today? Who gets the best of your energy, the best of your time, the best of your love, the best of your resources? Well that's what you're really dedicated to. Not what your Christianese talk says.
A lot of people who were paid for by Jesus are actually dedicated to another purpose and to another owner. Like maybe you're dedicated to your business, your friends, your hormones. Maybe you've been taken over by your recreation, by TV, by sports, by your search for a mate. Maybe you're really controlled by the pain of the past or your anger, your bitterness, your ambition, your pride. Whatever it is, it didn't and it wouldn't die for you. Nobody loves you like Jesus. Nobody else can have your allegiance, your best.
You were created for the exclusive use of the One who purchased you with His blood to be used for what He wants to accomplish where you work, and where you go to school, and where you live, and what you do with your money, and what you own, and what you watch, what you listen to. I learned from a squealing phone that things just don't work right when they're not used for what they're supposed to be for.
Maybe there was a time when you dedicated your life to Jesus, but time has passed and now you're really reserved mostly for someone or something else aren't you? It isn't working, I know. The noise in your soul tells you you're supposed to be dedicated to your Lord Jesus Christ. This is your day to decide, or to decide again, who you are dedicated to.
Here's a suggestion: Make it the One who loves you the most; whose sacrifice was for you, who can do the most with your life, who you're going to be with forever. That would be Jesus.