Can we only give Him some of us?

It is Sunday afternoon, and I am once again perplexed by Sunday School this morning. If you have been following these blogs, you know that our class, the 18-30 year old class, is walking through the book of Job. Last week, Job 29: 1-6 shook me to the core by making me look at my intimacy with God and showing me what I was lacking.

Today, we entered Job 30. We kindly broke it down loosely into two sections. Verses 1-15 detail how Job's role/place in society has diminished since these tragedies have faced him. Within this, we discussed how his pride was really blurring the lines of being arrogant and prideful.

Then, we discussed verses 16-31, which displays Job's feelings of abandonment from God. Job's perspective of his separation from God is riveted through such verses as these:

Job 30
20 "I cry out to you, O God, but you do not answer;
I stand up, but you merely look at me.
21 You turn on me ruthlessly;
with the might of your hand you attack me.
22 You snatch me up and drive me before the wind;
you toss me about in the storm.
23 I know you will bring me down to death,
to the place appointed for all the living."

This is where the confusion began to rise. Someone asked if Job was justified in his feelings of pridefulness and if he should feel that God had truly abandoned him. Obviously, we know that God never left nor foresake him, just as He has never left or foresaken any of us. However, we feel that it was not Job's fault that he was in the tragic position that he was. Ultimately, it was God and God's allowance for Satan to work in Job's life that brought upon Job's tragedy.

We discussed how we know as Christians that God can and will allow trials to come upon us to strengthen our faith.

James 1
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds,
3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.
4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

So, even it Job did not bring it upon himself, the fact that he was a Christian made him vulnerable to God's testing, which is appropriate.

Then, it happened. A statement came out that perplexed everyone.

"That is why I don't give God everything. I let him oversee the spiritual side, but I take care of the rest, like the physical side. If God does it all, there is more room for Satan to come in, and I don't need Satan around now."

Someone had just stated a serious statement open for debate, controversy, and investigation. Basically, to pose this statement into a question, it would read:

"Can a Christian only allow God in certain parts of their life? If so, how does that match God's design for your life?"

With everything that I believe, feel, and think, I have to go against this thought. To me, if you are a Christian, then you became one through the blood of Jesus Christ and his gift of salvation. He did not just save part of you; He saved it all. And, he did not just save you from the damnation of Hell, he bought you at a price, His own life. Therefore, my conclusion is that you don't have a choice. You are His. He owns all of you. So, He can do anything He likes with you. I find my reasoning for this in the following two verses:

1 Corinthians 6
19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;
20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

If I am to honor God with your body, I take that as physical. It could also be mental as well. But, even if you choose not to honor Him, the other part of this verse still states that you were "bought at a price", which means that you (and all of you) are His.

Now, you belong to Him. And, James 1 says that you will face trials, but they are for our benefit. And, that is the point I am trying to get to in this blog. Here's what I am saying.

1. God does own us. We are His. He bought us at a price. We are to honor Him with our body, so we are not to give Him just part of us. He owns and deserves us all.

2. We will go through trials, but they are for our benefit.

3. Finally, the main point, is that God loves us and longs for us to be His. He wants all of us. But, it is not just to put us through trials. He created us, loves us, sent His Son to die for us, and has a divine purpose for us. He has a reason for us and a passion for us.

So, it is the least that we can do to honor Him with our life, the entire, complete, total life. He gave us His life; now, we can and should give ours to Him. It is one of our greatest opportunities to rise as His generation.

Feel free to respond to this. I'd love to see your opinions and thoughts.

Brent