For Sale by Owner

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 ride through town is always a good thing, especially when you’re not pushed for time.  Usually when I am visiting my family, I take my sister for a ride around some of my old stomping grounds.  We ride past the house where we grew up, we ride past several parks where my friends and I used to play and ride bikes, we visit neighborhoods that haven’t changed in forever, and we drive right through the middle of downtown. 

For me, it is a visit to an earlier time, a time of no worries and no cares.  As I drive through neighborhoods, as I pass parks and schools, pictures of old friends and the memories of good times spent together flood my mind. The sidewalks I took to school are still the same, the trees I used to pass as a boy are still in their places, the buildings on Main Street have the same facades, and life still moves at a pretty leisurely pace.

Changes, though, are evident in many sections of town.  New houses have been built and old ones have been torn down.  New developments and new businesses dot the landscape and new faces are rapidly replacing more familiar ones.  Several houses have signs posted in their front yards advertising they are for sale.  Some of the signs bear the names of prominent real estate agency but others simply say “For Sale by Owner.”  Everywhere it seems, things are in constant flux.

If you think about it, people live their lives in much the same way.  We are constantly on the move, changing jobs, changing relationships, changing scenery, changing, changing, changing.  We never seem to be satisfied with the way things are and we are constantly looking for that next move which we promise will be our last.  The problem is, we never really find what we are looking for, do we?  The areas of life we move into soon lose their appeal and allure and before long, we put up the sign, “For Sale by Owner” hoping someone will come along and buy us, getting us out of the situation we are in.

This idea of constantly moving and forever searching was very familiar to the Apostle Paul.  In his first letter to the church in Corinth, Paul admonished his readers to remember who had purchased them and how their lives were to reflect that new ownership.  Paul writes the following to the Corinthian believers, “For he who was a slave when he was called by the Lord is the Lord's freedman; similarly, he who was a free man when he was called is Christ's slave. You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men” (1 Corinthians 7:22-23).

In this brief statement, Paul makes it clear the relationship the believers in Corinth, and we as believers today, should have.  He takes great care in underlining the fact that their former way of life is over. Those who were slaves are now free in Christ and those who were free are now slaves to Christ.  Paul, here is not speaking of the Christians life as one of indentured servant hood.  Christ sets us free from sin and from its slavish hold on us.  When we become believers in Christ, he becomes our lord, savior, and master.  Our lives are to reflect him as our new owner.  Christ can claim ownership because he paid a high price for our salvation.  That price was his own blood and life on Calvary.

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hat are you looking for today?  Is there a sign in your front yard advertising you are for sale?  Are you looking for a new neighborhood in which to live?  Do you believe that a new job, new friends, a new location, or a new relationship can improve your life?  Are you ready to accept any payment as long as your situation changes?  Stop and think for just a minute.  If you are already a believer in Christ, then you need to turn every situation over to him.  Don’t make a move unless God tells you to do so.  If you are not a believer, I invite you to accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior.  He will place you under new ownership and will supply all your needs.  He is all you need to make your life all it can be.  Trust him, accept him, and turn your life over to him.  It will be that last life-move you’ll ever need to make.