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Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Is it Enough to Place Him in the Driver's Seat?

I remember when my daughter was first driving. I would hand her the keys, allow her to sit in the driver's seat, and I would sit beside her....trying to drive from there. I would smash my foot on the floor as if brakes were there. I would make noises and shout directions trying to control her every decision. I would fling my body left and right in the direction I thought she should go. I gave her the keys, put her in the seat...but letting go of the control, a whole different story.

I am sure most of you know where I was headed with this. We do this with God, don't we? We make that first step, turn the seat over to him, and give him the keys. And then, we proceed to tell him how to drive, where to drive, and which turns to take, and let Him know when we will be stopping.

So, let me ask you this....did we ever actually make him the driver? Is this what is wrong with most proclaimed Christians today....have we really made the ultimate decision in our lives, or is it in word only, and not a commitment from our hearts and soul? Did we fool ourselves by handing him the keys and is Satan sitting in the backseat smiling?

I want to believe it is human nature to question these things and human nature that makes us grasp for control of the drive once in a while. But today I am not sure. I have completed reading a book I mentioned several times here in my blog, Radical, Taking Back Your Faith From the American Dream by David Platt. It is a very thought- provoking, life examining book....and as he compares our cushy lives to those of the disciples and other believers who lived since and are living now, it causes some analysis. It really makes me examine our sacrifice...and when I place mine up against the ultimate sacrifice of Christ, it is pitiful...or worse, nonexistent. In his book David points out that many Christians today preach and teach about the blessings we deserve. And this is true. I have read those books too. But as scripture reveals....really we are asked to sacrifice. We are here temporary and we have a commission to share a message to the world.
He ends his book with a call for a one year commitment. I am letting that sit today, simmer and resonate in my soul. I am going to share this book with my husband. If it was just his writing that had me feeling this conviction, I could toss it away easier....but he backed his every thought with scripture. I am very afraid of where we are today in our country. How far we have walked from where we were. It may take a radical change, and maybe it needs to begin with me....and maybe you too.
"I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father." John 14: 12, 13

Those blessings we can ask for...they are for doing. For doing even greater things than Christ did. All to bring glory to God.

May you find salt and light in my words.

1 comment:

  1. Tommy Tenney, author of "The God Chasers" (a book I highly recommend), writes something along these lines:

    The altar was never intended to be a place of blessing. The altar is a place of death, of laying one's life down.

    Great post!

    ReplyDelete

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