(Psalms 25:5) “Lead me in your truth and
teach me, for you are the God of my salvation…”
My
son asked me “what does it mean to lay your life down for the Lord?” He is at
the age where his whole life lies before him. Questions like studying and career
is obviously in the forefront of his mind and he wants to make the right
choice. I confess this was a question I struggled with for many years but as
time has progressed and years have begun to tick away, this is now a lot
clearer. It is in fact not a difficult question to answer. Simply put, we must
put Him first in every area of our lives! Money, food and shelter must be a spinoff
of our commitment to Him and not the other way round. Nothing in our lives
should be given pre-eminence over our dedication to Him. Our natural minds like
to find justification to put the Lord on the back banner, we use education and
work commitments to justify our actions but they are no more than trappings
from the evil one! This world is full of what we like to deem as justifiable
actions. Even our family commitments must revolve around His will for our
lives!
We
no longer have rights as it were, we have been bought at a great price! “For
you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” (1Corinthians 6:20) – When we use terminology like, “God will understand”,
we have been deceived! Faith demands our sole dependency upon the finished work
of the cross. This is the lesson David teaches us in his psalm. Anything
outside of “God first” is destructive and will only ever leave us unsatisfied
and stagnant in our spiritual growth. Many questions will probe away at our
minds, looking to justify our independence, do not give them any place but
rather let us learn to trust our God for our daily needs; He knows what we
need, far better than we ever could!
In
principle we must act like the disciples and not like the rich young ruler. Simon
Bar-Jonah was a fisherman and busy casting nets into the sea, for he was a
fisherman. Jesus called out to him; “Follow me, and I
will make you fishers of men." The recorded response is the lesson; “Immediately they left their nets and
followed him.” (Matthew 4:20) – If anything in our lives forces us to take supremacy over God’s call for our lives we are in danger of
this as we look to hang onto the trappings of life. “And Jesus, looking
at him, loved him, and said to him, "You lack one
thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have
treasure in heaven; and come, follow me."” (Mark 10:21) – For this man money was
his life, for others it may be something else, but, we are to understand David’s
encouragement in this psalm, if we have learnt anything, we must understand
that God must take pre-eminence in every area of our lives. Have I arrived?
Most certainly not, but I can say with assurance that I have resolve by the
grace of God to learn to put my trust in him even more as I see the day of His
soon return inching closer.
Let us lock hands as we
encourage each other to trust our great Saviour as we learn to shed our own
independence like a snake sheds its skin. More of Jesus and less of my selfish
wants is my cry, receive my cry my great God and Father. Please help me lose my
selfish character. I also pray for all who confess Jesus as Lord of their
lives, make this truth clear to us all. Glorify your name for you alone are
worthy of all praise, Amen and Amen!
Signing off
Tyrone
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