Living to the Lord

One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.
Romans 14:5-9
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Living to the Lord
Our whole life was given over to the passions of the flesh. We ran from God and did what we wanted to secure ourselves as chief of our lives. But the Holy Spirit has called us out of our darkness and sin and death and given us light and life. We were before dead to God and secure in our sins, but now we are alive to God and dead to our sins. We are dead to the passions of the world and alive to the world to come. We are made new in the blood of Jesus. We are made dead to the past life and the darkness of our passions and made alive in Christ, living for him and with him forevermore. We have been transformed by the calling of the Holy Spirit. We are the Lord's. No matter if we live or die, Jesus' death has made us his own.