Last night, we had one of Isaiah’s mentors over for dinner. He is one incredible young man who loves Jesus and has a heart to disciple! As the night unfolded the conversation turned to his walk with Jesus and he began to share about the moment when Jesus moved from “just” Savior to becoming “Lord” of his life. He said something to the effect of, “Its like a shift in perspective…rather than approaching life through the lens of what I can and cannot do as a Christian, I became so excited about following Jesus as Lord that I joyfully give up the things that were hindrances so that I could follow Him on the great adventure He had in store!” Now those were not his exact words, but the gist of what I remember. Regardless, I was so thankful that the Lord saw fit to place such a godly guy in my son's life...one that truly understood Lordship. As I thought about what he said, I thought, “YES! Lordship is like a holy upgrade! Trading in what we think is pleasing and fulfilling, like a glass of cool water on a hot day, for The River of Living Water that is full to overflowing!
What’s so cool about the conversation is that, this week the One Year Bible had me in Matthew & the first verse I read on Wednesday stopped me in my tracks because it had to do with Lordship. I had read it on so many other occasions but for some reason I kept reading 10:24 over and over and over:
Students are not greater than their teacher and slaves not greater than their master.
A question immediately popped into my thoughts but before I wrote it down in my journal, I decided to see how the King James Version phrased the verse…it confirmed the challenging question that was burning within. KJV says, The disciple is not above his master nor his servant above his lord. Are you ready for the question? I wasn’t and I didn’t really want to write it down, but I did and it was this:
Is there anyone or anything that is occupying the place of my Lord?
You see when I read the verse, a fresh light from the Lord shed new meaning and I thought, “Man, I don’t want to be mastered by anything or anyone but Jesus, my LORD and Savior.” Then the above question followed…ouch. I decided to look up the word, Lord, in the Interlinear Bible (This is a GREAT tool if you want to take a deep dive into understanding the words in a verse!) and discovered this:
LORD – derived from the Greek word kurios
Lord; Sir; Master; The Lord
A person exercising absolute ownership rights
He to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has the power of deciding
Ok, in light of the definition, I began to ponder if there is anyone or anything that I am allowing to crowd out my Lord and Savior from His throne of absolute ownership in my life? Is there anyone or anything about whom/which I am allowing the power to decide how I use my time, talents and treasures and have at times surrendered the rights of my mind, will and/or emotions??? My mind began to spin with the things that creep in and out of my day or week that I allow to occupy the place of my one true Lord…my husband, concern for my sons, LCA, finances, emotions, Netflix, sweets….I think I could fill a paragraph with little “sirs” or “lords” that encroach upon the throne of my King, but I will stop there!
I thought to myself, “Oh how I do not want to become like the lost Jesus spoke about in Luke 6:46. The one who thought he knew Jesus as Lord and Savior, but when he met Jesus face to face, he heard Him say, “You called Me, ‘Lord, Lord’ but I don’t even know you. Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord’, and do not do what I say?’” Luke 6:46
I looked up the word, “Lord” in that verse (Luke 6:46) and discovered that it is the same Greek root that is used in Matthew 10:24!
Oh boy! At this point I decided to have my morning biocoffee and as I passed the refrigerator, I read the whiteboard wisdom I had written on the door a few months back. I usually write a fresh word from the Lord on a pretty consistent basis as a reminder each time we go to the fridge, that Jesus is our Bread of Life and Living Water, but at the direction of the Holy Spirit, these words have remained for quite some time and perhaps it has to do with a total surrender to Lordship?
Here is a nutshell of the whiteboard wisdom:
The Verse: Romans 1:23-24, reads, For only a fool would trade the unfading splendor of an immortal
God to worship the fading image of other idols. This is why God lifted his restraining hand and let them have the full expression of their desires.
The Thoughts Around the Verse: An idol is anything that absorbs our heart of imagination more than God. It can be our marriage, our health, our children, our finances, our job, and even a trial that we are enduring! Good things and even hard things can become little “g” “god” things when they absorb our heart and imagination more than our Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
I wonder if that is what Jesus was referring to when He said, The disciple is not above his master nor his servant above his lord?
We serve a sacred and set apart God who sent His Holy Son to not only save us from our sin but to also become Lord of our lives! Not by His barging His way into the conversation of our lives, but by our bidding. The only way He can remain Lord is to know Him, to seek Him and to be diligent to keep His throne clear of little “g” gods that encroach upon His Lordship. Praise Jesus that He left us with the residing Presence of the Holy Spirit to guide and direct us through the difficulties and distractions this life has to offer and to help us construct our lives in such an uncommon way that we ourselves can become a sacred offering consecrated to our Father God in heaven!
Father God, you have afforded us a blessing place that is protected by your Son’s Lordship, but we must choose to come away with You and meet You. It is so hard to set aside the distractions of this world and the foolishness of our fleshly appetites. You are a God who calls us to separation…speak to us right now about the things in our lives that are common…common things that have begun to occupy the uncommon place of the Lord Jesus in our hearts. Yes, You have called us to higher and uncommon things. Please do not lift your restraining hand from us so that we experience full expression of these little “l” lords. Holy Spirit, guide and direct us to follow you with reckless abandon because as we do, our children will begin to witness what a life of Lordship looks like. It will be winsome in their eyes. It will spur them to want to follow! Oh, Lord, help us as parents to be servant to You alone, yes, help us to learn to lead our children, by choosing to follow our One True Lord!
Great Are You Lord - All Sons & Daughters
p.s. I also learned this week that God inhabits the praises of his people! (Ps 22:3) Thought this song so appropriate to praise Him! "Great are You, Lord!!!"
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