WE ARE THE LORD’S
(August 17)
“He who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. He also who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God; while he who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. None of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. 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.” (Rom 14: 6-9)
How “liberal” of St. Paul, to put our minds to rest like this, not only with regard to our various traditions of fasting and feasting, but also to our various ways of living and dying. He’s saying, whether you’re “observing” this day (say, by fasting, as are the Older Calendar folks right now, during Dormition Fast, and/or by going to church, as do many this Saturday evening), or whether you’re “living” or “dying” (on some level), – hand it over to the Lord, recognizing that you are His beloved child, with your strengths and weaknesses. I think this helps a lot to take the fear out of dying and living, if either or both of those have been infected with fear.
Thank You, Lord, for putting our minds to rest on this summer day, whether we’re at home, in church, at the beach or at work, and whether we are fasting or not. We hand it all over to You this morning, in gratitude. “Let us commend ourselves and one another and all our lives to Christ our God,” with all our strengths and weaknesses.
