Whose life is it anyway?

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. (Gal 2:20 ESV)

I was reading Galatians in my new ESV, and this verse stopped me dead - pardon the pun! I don't know whether it was a rhema moment, where the living word of God jumped out, or just the change of wording that caused the magnitude of these familiar words of scripture to sink in afresh; probably it was a bit of both.

These words are immense! What a change it would make if we really lived like this every day. I'm not saying I've never understood these verses theologically before - of course I have - but it occurred to me afresh that we daily face many issues and questions that quietly and implicitly ask the question, "Whose life is it anyway?" and without thinking we often respond equally implicitly - "Mine." However our life is not ours: my old life is dead; my new life is Christ's. Our reaction to life's circumstances should convey the reality of our theological convictions.


It's not my free time - it's his time.

It's not my career. Getting ahead in my job is not the ultimate goal.

It's not my ministry. The kingdom does not exist to forward my ambitions! I live to serve his kingdom.

It's not my money. I came with nothing, and will leave with nothing. I am but a steward of what he entrusts to me.

It's not my life, to do what ever I want with - it's his life to do whatever he wants.


If I live this way, then the rest of the verse applies: the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God. If I don't then I am a "Zombie Christian" -- a dead man walking!