It is one thing to
choose Jesus Christ for your salvation; another matter altogether to decide He
is Lord. We circumvent the question by passing over its implications. Are we ready to pray a while longer with Him
in the Garden of Gethsemane? Do we have
the heart for storing up in our own bodes the blows intended for Christ? Have we really taken up the call to
"make disciples of all nations"?
Is there a flinch, a hesitation to the demand to let the world run
roughshod over us that we might be salty salt and a city on a hill? It is a clear sign that we are not altogether
given over to the determination that Jesus Christ is Lord over us when we get
bent out of shape over how He has mistreated us, how He has mishandled us, how
He has misappropriated our skills and talents.
"What a waste of my time or abilities", we whine . "How foolish that I must endure this",
we complain. Are we ready to declare
that Jesus Christ is Lord over us wherever He has us land and that the
complaint we mutter over our trying circumstance is nothing but full out
mutiny? We certainly have a right, even
as God's child, to be upset that we have not gotten a fair shake in life and
that we deserve better treatment than we have received. But we mustn't lie to ourselves that Christ
is Lord over us. He is not. We have let our wounded ego get the upper
hand. If Christ wishes to crush us with
troubles and disappointments that the sweetness of Him might seep out of us,
then so be it. He is Lord. If wants to break apart our plans and
aspirations that something of us that is altogether His might become
consecrated bread for the world, then rejoice for He is Lord. Once the boy gave Christ his loaves and
fishes, they were God's to do with as He wished and it would have been a
ridiculous absurdity for him to complain when the disciples gave some of that
bread and fish to a neighbor he despised.
It was God's alone to dispense as He saw fit the moment the loaves and
fishes were handed over to Christ. Once
you declare Jesus Christ is Lord, you are His to do with as He wishes so settle
down and with the same faith you had at the beginning when you made your
decision to give Him your life, hold to that decision now as you discover He
really intends to do with you as HE intends.
...then choose for yourselves this day whom you will
serve… Joshua 24:15 NIV
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