While God wants our belief, He wants us to move beyond belief to obedience. We who accept Jesus as our Savior and Lord must dig deeper and expand our understanding of who He is and then act on those beliefs. If I really believe being fit is important I will watch what I eat and exercise consistently.

 

What about our belief in Jesus? Can it move from simply acknowledging the existence of a supreme being to real faith in a God who knows our names and the number of hairs on our heads? Are we willing to study God’s Word and see it as the “owner’s manual” for our lives? Are we willing to surrender our lives to Him as our Lord, our Master? Are we willing to desire His will and obey what He wants us to do with our lives? Now we are getting down to it! So what does it mean to receive Christ as the Lord of our lives? It means He is in charge. He’s the boss. God says of Himself, “Believe in me and understand that I alone am God. . . . I am the Lord, and there is no other Savior” (Isaiah 43:10-11).

 

We work in partnership and trust with the Lord, but our role is to joyfully obey. For those of us who have problems with authority figures, we need to remember that Jesus is a loving Lord, not a self centered, power-hungry master. We can trust Him with our lives. Belief is the starting line, trust and obedience are the next two legs of the race.

 

In His Service,

Eric Barnes