Crucified With Christ

I have been thinking a lot lately about the verse in Galatians where Paul says "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." This is very, very important to a Christian. I know that I would do better to think about this more often. For those of us who have obeyed the Lord's call, we are dead. Any desire I have must be killed if it is not in line with God's Word and His will. This is a very difficult thing, but by the grace of our God, it is worth it. Each day, I must die to myself, and allow Christ to live through me. Every decision I make must reflect Christ's Love and Righteousness. Think about this. Strive to crucify yourself so that Christ can live in and through you. Jesus must completely rule our lives. It is not a natural thing. Living a life for God takes hard work. I know. I get tired, very tired. Crucifying my fleshly desires gets tiring and old. I don't want to do it. I want to live the way I want to live. However, that is not the way to please our Lord. One day, we will give an account for the things we have done. Will we be able to stand before the Maker of the universe? Not if we do not learn to put our desires to death and allow God's desires to take over our thinking and our lives. Let us endeavor to everyday put our will in subjection to Him, to die to ourselves, taking up our crosses to crucify the old man, and move forward in His Life!