Obeying Christ As you grow as a new Christian, you will find that true contentment and fulfillment comes in surrendering complete control of your life to Jesus Christ. This means letting Him have highest authority over your life as King and Lord. Being a Christian is not just worshipping God for an hour on Sunday. A true follower of Jesus Christ is committed to a life of obedience to Him, 24/7, for the rest of his or her life. And it is a full life and an exciting adventure (John 10:10)! Making Jesus Christ your Lord — living a lifestyle of obedience and dependence on Christ — brings about changes in the way you live. LIVE WHOLEHEARTEDLY First, living with Jesus Christ as your Lord is a wholehearted way of life. We are called to serve God with all our hearts! Wholehearted followers are what God is looking for (II Chronicles 16:9). Surrender your heart each day to Him, ready and willing to be like Him and serve the King of your life (Ephesians 6:7). A RELATIONSHIP OF LOVE Second, living with Jesus Christ as your Lord is a relationship of love. Your love for God is expressed through obedience (Matthew 22:37-40). Love is more than a feeling — it’s something we do. When you love your King, you obey His commands (John 14:21). Obedience relates to every aspect of our lives: relationships with family and friends, our jobs, career plans and future ambitions — everything must be surrendered to God’s plans. We need to care more about what God thinks about us than what people think. Our bank accounts, possessions, time and everything we claim as ours, must be under God’s control. Even our social life and leisure time should be yielded to Christ. Be willing to obey Christ even when there is personal cost involved (Luke 14:33). Through obedience to Christ, we come to really know Him, and we become more like Him. Jesus makes Himself real to us. RUN TO OBTAIN THE PRIZE! Third, living with Jesus Christ as your Lord means living a focused life aimed at glorifying God. God has a plan for each of our lives. Fulfilling these plans involves our active, disciplined effort. The Apostle Paul described the Christian life as an Olympic competition. In the same way that an Olympic athlete devotes him or herself to rigorous training, so we are challenged to work at our relationship with Christ, growing in our understanding of God’s Word, developing our character to be more like Christ, and living by Christ’s example (I Corinthians 9:24). What we do with the 24 hours we are given each day determines the effectiveness of our Christian life and our service for Christ. God calls us to be productive believers, bearing “fruit” for God. Like a branch that draws life-giving sap from the vine, we draw our sustenance from union with Christ and recognize our dependence on Him (John 15:5). That’s how we live our lives in a way that pleases God (I Corinthians 10:31). BE TRANSFORMED Finally, living with Jesus Christ as Lord of our lives is a life of transformation. We can’t live perfect lives. When we fail, we can bring those failures to Jesus Christ. He promises to forgive and cleanse us (I John 1:9). Every day we need to let go of the old way of living and remember we are new creations (Ephesians 4:24). By turning away from our sins and receiving the new life Christ gave us, we steadily become more like Him (Romans 12:2). The Christian life often runs against the current of the world around us. So we need wholehearted commitment, true love for Jesus Christ, a disciplined lifestyle and readiness to admit our failures and leave behind our old ways of living in order to live victoriously in Christ. By surrendering to Jesus Christ in every area of our lives, we can live life to its fullest as He intended.
Posted on: Tue, 02 Jul 2013 12:02:12 +0000
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