DYING DAILY

I affirm, brethren, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

1 Corinthians 15:31 NASB

The latter bit of 1 Cor 15:31 states very clearly “.. I die daily”. The ‘daily’ bit in the sentence brings it all together. It is not suddenly total neither is the process of surrendering immediately absolute. Yet, the ultimate goal is to be completely dead to self and take on all of God. Spirits don’t have bodies, so have absolutely no need to have their bodies and souls serviced by food and pride respectively. While we have bodies, we have limitations unfortunately but seeking to be as close as possible to a position of forgoing all the trappings of the physical body is the aim. It will only be perfected in physical death or transfiguration of man but getting as close as possible to that state is the biggest single secret to walking with God . Stepping out of yourself is hard, awfully hard. At least, initially it is. Keeping quiet when you have the answer is not the naturally human thing to do. Naturally speaking, no one was made that way. In my little bit of observation, God disables before he enables, he breaks before he moulds. If every of man’s righteousness are like filthy rags, it could be safe to also assume all of man’s abilities outside God could also be seen by Him as inabilities.

HOW CAN I DIE DAILY?

Submit your will to God's will.

Everyday, life shows us a different version of itself. The temptation to say yes to the flesh comes everyday. Although as humans, we are not perfect but thankfully, we have Jesus who is perfect and it is through him that we attain perfection. At the most vulnerable moment for Jesus, he yielded to the Father's will. Despite knowing all that the plan entails, the flesh was fighting back so much that he cried out to God but above all, he asked that the will of God overrides his will (Luke 22:42). Therefore, to die daily, you have to submit your will to the Father no matter how difficult it may be for your flesh.

The guidance of the Holy Spirit.

One of the sweetest things about the Holy Spirit is; he'd never leave the believer. The only thing that could make you think he isn't there is sin but that's just an illusion that sin creates in your mind. The Holy Spirit is there but sin could numb your sensitivity to him. However, we should be excited that we have the same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead living in us. Therefore, this Spirit helps us obey God and empowers us to overcome temptation. Having the Holy Spirit doesn't mean you won't be tempted, you will because we live in a fallen world. In fact, don't be surprised when you see that you are being tempted more as a Christian than when you were in the world. But every man isn't tempted more than he can bear, the bible tells us so (1 Cor 10:13). Rejoice because the SPIRIT of God is there to guide you into all truth.

Serve, don't wait to be served.

One of the things we can emulate from Christ is service. Jesus came to serve others and not the other way round (Mark 10:45). He served so much that the bible says that if all he did were to be recorded, the entire world could not contain the books that would be written. Who are you serving? Who did God ask you to serve?

Unwelcome selfish desires.

Many of us didn't know we can find absolute joy in Jesus, running away from our problems and feeling it with worldly things was the order of our day. I had always called myself a Christian because I attended church even though at a point, I stopped. Little did I know that being a Christian is far more than just going to church. I didn't care about others that much, all I thought about was myself and how I could get what I wanted from others. Jesus was just an accessory and nothing more, therefore, it was impossible to see others as much important. My selfishness was raised to power 10 but encountering Christ changed it all for me; I've found a life worth living, I've come to understand that my life wasn't mine all along but God's. Everyday, I'm learning to take up my cross and follow him.

Dying daily is practically difficult but worth it because Jesus promised us that whosoever loses his life will find it in abundance. Dying daily cannot be done in our strength but through the help of the Holy Spirit. He helps us live a life worth dying for, the life that can be found only in Christ. Surrendering all to God means you have gotten to the point of understanding the secret of giving everything over to him but unfortunately, many people are yet to. The only way to truly flourish in Him is to die to everything else and only have Him as your source. How much frustration will you have to face before you realize there is an easier way to life? Coming to God with credentials is foolish and pointless, all that is vanity to him. Humble yourself and come before him. The key to truly live in God is to die to everything else. The way to live is to die. And for every moment of living, dying should take place. We’ve go to die to live and live to die every day.