By Roger D. Willmore
We are not our own. We were bought at a price. We belong to Jesus. We are His purchased possession. When a person yields to the lordship of Jesus Christ, he or she acknowledges His ownership and gives up his or her personal rights.
Yielding to the lordship of Jesus Christ also involves total and unreserved obedience. If He is the Lord of your life, you are going to do what He tells you to do. If asked what I consider to be the most important word in the Christian vocabulary, I would say "Obedience." We move forward in our spiritual growth in direct proportion to our obedience to the revealed truth of God's Word.
I like to read the account of Elijah's response to God in 1 Kings 17 and 18. The Word of the Lord came to Elijah, and he did what God told him to do. Several times God spoke and Elijah obeyed. As a result of his obedience, Elijah was used in a powerful way to exalt God's name. His response to God's Word was always immediate and exact. He did precisely what God told him to do as soon as God told him to do it. Remember that delayed obedience is the same as disobedience. Lordship involves obedience.
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Jesus raised an important question: "But why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do the things which I say" (Luke 6:46, NKJV)? Are you doing what the Lord has instructed you to do? Are you doing it immediately and exactly? Are you obeying God?
Stephen Olford recounts a wonderful story about an incident in the life of his friend and mentor, Graham Scroggie.
Dr. Scroggie was speaking at the Keswick convention in England on one occasion when he was approached by a young woman who had been greatly stirred by his message on the Lordship of Christ. Walking up to him at the close of the service, she said, "I want Jesus to be Lord of my life, but I am afraid God will send me overseas as a missionary, and I don't want to go."
Opening the Bible to Acts 10:14, Dr. Scroggie explained the utter absurdity of Peter's answer. You will remember that God had given Peter a vision of a sheet in which were all manner of four-footed animals, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. And a voice came to him, "Rise Peter, kill and eat." But Peter answered, "Not so, Lord." (See Acts 10:12-14).
The doctor (Scroggie) went on to explain, "A slave never dictates to a master. Therefore, to say 'Not so, Lord' was impertinent! "Now," advised Dr. Scroggie, "I want you to cross out the two words 'not so' and leave the word 'Lord'; or else cross out the word 'Lord' and leave 'not so'." Handing her his pencil, he quietly walked away.