He is Lord
As mentioned previously, I grew up always going to church, and it is and always has been a big part of my life.
I have seen trends: thoughts and opinions of people influence how the church has operated. Some have been good, and some have been detrimental. One thing that I have observed is there are subjects of Christian living that have become unpopular. These subjects are as unpopular outside of the church as they are inside the church. But most importantly, how unpopular they are in our own lives.
I will confess that I am a strong, independent woman, which means that like most of us, I know what I want and where I am going. I am not that great at being told what to do, and for those of you that know me, that will come as no surprise. It can be my greatest strength but can also be the worst of my weaknesses.
For many of us, the idea of authority, lordship and surrender is actually ok - as long as it is the comfortable areas of our lives and those things in which we find easy to give up. And therefore, the idea of Jesus being Lord of our lives and giving full surrender to him are familiar terms, but they can be much more of a challenge to live by.
How many sermons have we listened to?
How many books have we read?
How many conversations have we been part of?
How many songs have we sung?
How many times in this COVID-19 pandemic have we declared that Jesus is Lord?
Yet, there is still a disconnection between what we say, hear and sing, that Jesus has the upmost authority in our lives. Jesus being Lord is the fundamental foundation of our faith.
In Romans 9:10, it says:
If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
Jesus is Lord.
It is the declaration and confession of our mouths.
It is the belief in our hearts that makes us right with God.
We can’t accept Jesus and make our focus anything other than a God focus.
The goodness that we show to one another, to those in need or our neighbour is the fruit of God being Lord of our lives.
I referenced in my last blog that 2020 will be the year that will go down in history as the year the coronavirus pandemic hit the world, but also the year we saw great acts of kindness, cohesion and community.
Without Jesus being Lord of our lives, the very heart of our actions will not set us apart from any other person or organisation offering the same help and support that many of our churches are.
I am challenged in my own life to allow Jesus to be Lord and to establish a connection between my words and actions under the lordship of Jesus.
What do I mean? Simply, I want to be set apart. I want to be known for my godliness, not my goodness. I want the knowledge that my actions are not simply good, but they are pointing people to Jesus.
And to do this, I have to surrender to the authority that Jesus has in my life.
written by Lois Evans