Submitting to His Lordship

³⁵ For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. (Mark 8:35 NKJV)

Within Christendom, there are two types of people who take on the name of Christian. Those who believe in God, and those who have made Jesus Lord of their life. The former tends to exhibit little fruit in their life and often are difficult to distinguish from non-believers. The latter are radically changed in their behavior, attitude, and life path. They are sometimes mocked and ridiculed for their radical faith because it seems unstable, but no one would ever doubt that they are Christians who love Jesus.

In this famous passage above, Jesus clearly commands that we must give up our lives for the sake of the gospel (good news of Christ), or else we will not gain salvation. There is no halfway faith for believers in Christ. If Jesus is Lord, our old lives are dead and lost and we must conform ourselves to His ways with everything that we have.

This is not to say that we don't have jobs, personal lives or possessions. We aren't automatons, but we will be asked to change our lives in ways that we aren't familiar or comfortable with in order to align with Him. Our souls, being "born again", will gladly embrace these changes because they are pushing us toward being authentic with who we are in Christ. There won't be a sense of being forced to conform to God's new shape.

On a personal level, this involves asking myself, "in what ways have I held back on Jesus? Is there anything that He cannot take from me, should He choose?"

I think there is little wonder that Christians who have made Jesus Lord will have phases in their lives where they are stripped bare of the reputation and identity they have with the world. It can come via layoffs, or through big relationship challenges, but in some way our previous reputations in the world that we've held so dear, will be blown up to the point where we are just left as ourselves... naked and bare before the Lord. It is then we will cling to Him and Him alone -- and finally at that point, He can build us up in His image of who we were meant to be. It is then that we will let go of our preconceived notions of who we are, and what we should be, and simply follow Him where He bid us go.

Lord Jesus, I'm not quite sure where You will have me, but I am so glad to have been stripped bare of my previous identity in the world. Frankly, it was wearing me down because it wasn't authentic. I know that You have a greater plan and a greater future than I could create on my own, and I welcome that. Praise Your name in every way. Amen.