Jesus is Lord. Lord of All Period. Settled. Done. Nothing will ever change that. But the question is, “Is He Lord of You?”
This, of course, is a statement that I have heard preached and taught since I was knee high to a grasshopper. I heard it at least once at every youth camp, every youth revival, and every retreat that I ever attended, and I have taught it at least a thousand times myself since I have been in ministry.
But don’t become deaf to it. There’s no place for jaded disciples. It must be an important truth for so many to have made it a priority all these years. In the English New Testament the word “Lord” appears 618 times– of which Jesus is personally addressed as “Lord” or “my Lord” 249 times. It’s a big word and a big concept. It’s synonyms are master, ruler, commander, and “one who exercises absolute ownership rights.” Absolute ownership. That’s big.
Doesn’t it seem odd to claim that He is Lord of ALL, without being MY Lord? How does that make any sense? Follow my logic.
Have you ever considered how little of your life you actually control? Did you decide when or where you would be born? Or who your parents would be? Or who your siblings will be?
Did you decide the color or your skin, or your eyes, or your hair? Did you decide your intelligence, or your talents and gifts? How about your height? Did you determine that?
The answer to all these questions is NO. In every one of the areas and in many more, your vote counts for absolutely nothing!
So, at what point do you exercise control? The Bible teaches that you control a small but immensely important part of your life– your WILL. Making Jesus Lord has to do with your will— and surrendering absolute control to Him makes him your Lord. It’s the gift he gave us– free will. It’s what being created in the image of God really means. He created us in His image– giving us the choice to make Him our Lord– or not. Keep following me.
A couple and their two teenaged boys were traveling in their small Volkswagen down a rural highway during a rainstorm. It was dusky dark and raining so hard that they could hardly see the road before them. Oddly, they noticed a man and woman walking alongside the highway in the pouring rain. As they got closer they saw that the woman was carrying a little baby in her arms. They pulled over and asked the lady if there was any way they could help.
She explained that they lived in a house several miles back, but that lightning from the storm had struck their house and started a fire, burning it to the ground. They had barely escaped with their lives and were walking to her sister’s house to stay until they could decide what to do. Feeling sorry for the destitute family, and realizing there was no room for the three of them in the crowded Volkswagen, the man reached in his pocket and pulled out a $20 bill. He gave it to the woman, and then drove away into the wet downpour.
A mile or so down the highway, he abruptly stopped the car and asked his family, “How much money do you all have?” They emptied their pockets and pooled their resources, coming up with a little under $100. He drove back and found rain soaked couple and their baby again. “Do you have the money I gave you?” he asked the woman.
Quite surprised she responded, “Yes, I do.”
“Then give it back to me,” he said without any explanation.
Perplexed, she reached into her pocket and pulled out the $20 bill and handed it back to him. He took a moment to combine it with most of the money they had gathered, and then handed it back to her, “Here, our family would like you to have this. It’s a hundred dollars.”
THIS IS EXACTLY HOW GOD TREATS US! He gives us so many wonderful gifts, and then comes and says to us– “I would like to have them back– every one of them.” He only does this so that He can combine them with his unlimited resources and give them all back to us– and more. The only thing that could make this story a better mirror of God would be for the man to have handed them his personal credit card in place of the twenty dollars and said, “Use it from now on for whatever you need.”
Making Jesus Lord of your life– YOUR Lord– is our opportunity to tap the unlimited resources of the God of Heaven. It is our chance to give our lives significance rather than mediocrity. In allowing Jesus to be Lord of all , we are not doing God a favor– He’s doing US a favor.
It’s all about the $20 he gave you. What will you do with it when he asks?
“Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.” Matthew 10:39 NIV
“If your first concern is to look after yourself, you’ll never find yourself. But if you forget about yourself and look to me, you’ll find both yourself and me.” Matthew 10:39 The Message Bible
