We talked about the terrifically difficult things Jesus called others to do in order to follow him this morning in our Bible class. He expected one guy to forget about going home to bury his father, another to give all his money away to the poor, and yet another to "hate his mother and father". Basically, he was telling them they had to completely and totally submit to Him and the will of the Father. It might be that the Father's will would be for those people to actually have and do all those things he was asking them to forgo....but...they had to be willing to give it ALL up for Him. None of the people in those examples were able to follow because they wouldn't take the necessary risks involved in submitting to Christ.
There's only one guarantee....and it's really the only one that matters. By submitting to Him I'm guaranteed a part in the kingdom of God. I'm guaranteed that I have a part in bringing about the age to come....HIS Kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven. I can start living my eternity right now.
The tough thing about submission is the little daily struggles. It's so difficult to submit when things aren't particularly going my way, or, I'm just in a foul mood and don't want to be bothered. Tom Williams put it so perfectly today in Bible class by using an example from the South African Missionary Livingstone and the reporter who went looking for him, Stanley. He said that Stanley asked Livingstone, "How did you survive there in the jungle amidst all the lions and tigers?" Livingstone's reply was, "It wasn't the lions and tigers that bothered us, it was the gnats."
So true. Time to face another week full of "gnats".
grace
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2 comments:
This is so true! A few friends and I spent a few hours today, spread throughout the day, talking about the Kingdom of God... so your posting is uncanny! One thing we're convinced of is that the church (institution) doesn't have a clue as to what the Kingdom of God is, and I don't have much of a clue most days, either. These great acts of submission to God's Lordship that you mentioned, and others found in scripture, are things that we are not ready to do most days.
Definitely, submission is not an easy thing for most of us!
Hey, grace. Thanks so much for your comment. Inspiration for yet another article at some point in the future. :) Feel free to stop by again and catch my response to your comment.
Excellent point here, as well. I have found that submission, hard as it is, is really what the Christian walk is all about. When I submit myself and my desires to God, I find myself consistently in a better place, and it often happens that the things I gave up were either given back to me or replaced with something better. Keep struggling! It's all worth it!
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