I’m glad Jesus is your Savior. But is he your Lord?
Is he?
Does Christ compel your every thought and deed? Does Jesus inform your every decision? Do you seek to honor him with every word and action? Is Jesus the Lord of your church life and your work life and your family life and your recreation life and your social life? Do you give Jesus the final say on every second of your every minute or do you hold out on him? Does he have some of your day, but not all of it? Does he control some of your life, but not all of it? Does he get the final vote on everything you do, or just on some of the things you do?
Is he your Lord? Or is he just your Savior?
It’s high time, isn’t it, for the lordship of Jesus Christ to move past Sunday mornings and past our churches and past our religious ceremonies and programs and into our whole world. All of it. “Jesus is Lord!” That was the confession of the early Church. Jesus is Lord. That means Caeser is not. Your corporate president is not. Your nation’s president is not. Neither is your boss or your teacher or your neighbor or your client or your child or your coach. Or your culture. Jesus is Lord.
God is bigger than we’ve ever imagined. And he wants all of us.
For some reason, we’ve allowed God to only have dominion over the things we can’t really explain. We’ll give God the Bible and Church and heaven and hell. He can rule over life and death. He can make all the decisions about salvation and judgment. But that’s an abbreviated God. That’s a “God of the gaps” who just fills in the blanks. The God of Holy Scripture is Lord over everything. He’s not just Lord over what we don’t know, but over every single thing we know and over all the things we’re just now learning. He is Lord. We must stop pretending that our God only wants to dwell in the little religious corners we’ve reserved for him.
“It always seems to me that we are trying anxiously to reserve some space for God; I should like to speak of God not on the boundaries but at the centre; not in weaknesses but in strength… The Church stands not at the boundaries where human powers give out, but in the middle of the village.” ~Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 1944
Resolve right now, by the grace of God and the power of his Spirit, to put Christ at the very center of your world. Declare Jesus to be your “all and in all.” Give him, finally, your whole life; stop holding back. He’s not the last resort when you’ve run out of options; he’s not the religious specialist who only deals with spirituality; he’s not a comfort blanket when you’re hurting or an AK-47 when you’re in trouble.
He is Lord. Right smack dab in the middle of your village.
Peace,
Allan
Of course He doesn’t compel every thought and deed. We are worried about who is going to be the Rangers 3rd starter or will the Carlisle unleash Roddy B. or much Charlie Sheen is winning.
I think the question might be re-framed as how can I make Him the center? Don’t give me theoretical – give me something I can hang on to. It’s like telling someone “Run faster” – if they could run faster, they would. Help them identify the behaviors “You seem to bob your head – focus on that light pole at the end of your lane on your next run and let’s how that works”.
And by the way, sometimes what we need is a comfort blanket.
Good question on real, practical things (behaviors) we can do to move Jesus to the center. Here are a few:
-confess sins (be specific…call them what the Word calls them) – even the “little” ones, and especially the ones that are only within one’s own heart
-give, even when you “don’t have the money”; when you do have the money, give even more
-give the BEST of something you have, rather than the leftover that you were going ot get rid of anyway
-serve, even when it’s inconvenient
-befriend the person you are tempted to look or walk away from
-go on a mission trip, especially to a 3rd world country
-buy a homeless person a hot meal and sit and chat with him / her while they eat
-fast
-pray
-give until it hurts; and then give a little more
-offer grace when wronged
-give the clerk at Wal Mart a genuine compliment
-go to worship when you feel like skipping
These are some things that help “focus on the lightpole”.
Since it is Spring Break and it is raining…the kids and I are here at home. After playing together for 7 hours….Parker and SusieQ got in their first fight of the week. Talking to Parker about what he did wrong and such in his room…here is the conversation.
Me..”Parker, who is the boss in this house, you?”
Parker…”No, Mama. Jesus is the boss of our house.”
Me…”Do you think Jesus would be happy with the way you just treated your sister?”
Parker…”No Mam. (bowing his head)Jesus, I’m sorry I was bad. I’m glad you are the boss.”
Oh my word. I was a puddle. I’m glad Jesus is the boss, too. He is LORD!