One of the things that I think disturbs me the most about Christians (including myself) is that we think that Christianity is about what we can get from God.
Our prayers are slanted that way, “Bless me…give me…help me...forgive me...protect me.”
Our motives are slanted that way, “If I do this for God then He may bless me by giving me…”
BUT…the Scriptures teach so clearly that when we become a follower of Jesus we are saying to Him, “I will submit to what YOU want me to be…I will do what YOU want me to do.”
AND…MOST people do not have a problem with believing the sentence above–UNTIL it requires us to actually make some sort of sacrifice.
We will follow Jesus…UNTIL it impacts our dating life or marriage.
We will follow Jesus…UNTIL it begins to impact us financially.
We will follow Jesus…UNTIL it begins to impact our time.
We will follow Jesus…UNTIL it begins to impact our social schedule.
We will follow Jesus…UNTIL it begins to impact our sleep
BUT…one of the things I am seeing over and over again in the Scriptures is that a true follower of Jesus Christ held nothing as sacred (Look at Acts 4:32-37 as an example -- WOW!!).
When someone in the Scriptures was submitting their life to Christ, it was complete and total surrender and not “submission based on convenience.”
The question I am praying and wrestling through personally right now is, “Is there any area of my life that I have declared ‘off limits’ to God?”
I challenge you to do the same.
Jesus SACRIFICED …and He calls us to do the same (you know, the whole “take up your cross and follow me” thing!)
Submission equals sacrifice!
