Since the new year started, I’ve heard two different people make an interesting distinction.\u00a0 In the first instance, a woman was discussing how it is possible for us to see Jesus as our Savior but not actually as our Lord.\u00a0 Then, in the second instance a new friend referred to someone very dear to her by saying that this someone had been a believer in Christ but not a follower of Christ until recently.\u00a0 I knew after the second time this distinction surfaced that I absolutely must think it through for myself\/write about it.<\/p>\n
Though it does seem inarguably obvious to me now, I’m not sure that it had ever occurred to me before, at least not in the manner in which these two individuals discussed it.\u00a0 Of course Jesus can save us with only a minimal level of surrender on our part, which would indeed make him Savior of our souls but not Lord of our lives.\u00a0 And yes, of course, we can believe rather wholeheartedly in him, at least by our definition, and yet choose to do precious little about it during the course of our lives down here.\u00a0 Such a reality is so very possible, probable and prevalent even, in the Christian Church of our nation today.<\/p>\n
I say this not as someone who is judging others but as someone who’s been the person described by both of the people who brought this important matter to my attention.\u00a0 And sadly, I am still that person some days, far too many in fact.\u00a0 Surrender does not come easily to me, which seemed to work quite well for me as a cancer patient and as the daughter of a parent who literally took their life into their own hands and out of this world down here through suicide.\u00a0 Yes, refusing to give up has often served me well.\u00a0 But, it is indeed a mixed bag because, as a follower, it truly has and often still does handicap me.<\/p>\n
If we really do desire to live life down here the way God intends for us to live it, then I believe, I know actually, that we must surrender our right to our life altogether; and that is so much easier said than done.\u00a0 And it’s far from instantaneous but is instead a process, at least for me.\u00a0 It is like a dance during which I continually steal the lead from the partner who is supposed to have it the whole time because his skill and his moves are so much better than even my very best moves, on their own, can ever be.<\/p>\n
This “Jabez-declared” year I want to do so much more than simply believe God has all the right moves.\u00a0 I want to actually dare to step into the circle of his arms and follow his lead, no matter how foolish doing so might make me appear to those around me.\u00a0 And we will look foolish to many.\u00a0 As his followers, we are simply not going to find ourselves fitting the pattern cut out by this world any more than Jesus did when he walked around on this ever-dusty sphere.\u00a0 Christ was a misfit in this world.\u00a0 Thus, does it not only make sense that his “real” followers would be as well?\u00a0 I say this because I know that I fit in far too well much of the time.\u00a0 Comfort is, after all, quite important to me, to most of us really.\u00a0 \u00a0But, if there has ever been one Person worthy of being uncomfortable for, our Savior and our Lord is that Person–he is worth it all and then some.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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