"At this point many of His disciples turned away and deserted Him. Then Jesus turned to the twelve and asked, 'Are you going to leave too?' Simon Peter replied, 'Lord to whom would we go? You alone have the words that give eternal life. We believe them and we know that You are the Holy One of God.' " John 6:66-69....."What in our lives is masked as 'good,' but pulls us from Him?" John Bevere
I saw the other day that His name "Savior" appears in the Word 36 times. His name "Lord" appears 7800. Which name is more acceptable to you and me? Before most of us step out and give the religiously correct answer of "Both," we need to realize that the fruit of our lives, the day to day actions, choices, words and thoughts bring forth the true answer. I think the reality is that we are much more comfortable with Him as Savior than we are as Lord. When we focus on Him as our Savior, we so easily drift into life being mostly about what He gives us. We look to Him to save us, protect us, provide for us, make a way for us, and generally, make life good for us. The common word here is "us" and the gospel then is mainly about US. There can be no clearer picture of that attitude than what is found in John 6. Jesus had just miraculously fed a multitude of hungry people. As He went along, a great part, maybe the whole, followed along after Him. Now, most of us, myself included, would be very happy with that crowd. If it were me that was leading them along, I'd be planning on all the great ministries I could start. I'd be getting groups of people together to talk about what our next step in ministry would be. I'd also be thinking about how much money we could raise from such a great crowd, and all the good things we could do with it. Let me say that all of these things are "good" in themselves. They just aren't good when they keep us from the central aspect of who Christ is. He is Lord. Of everything. Of all. Of me.
Jesus clearly understands us and knows our hearts. He certainly knew the hearts of those who followed Him. When He began to tell them of what would truly be required to be His, that they surrender all right to self. That they yield to His Lordship in everything. That they partake fully of every aspect of who He is, and simply take up His and their cross, and follow Him......they declined. And all but twelve of them walked away. Michael Brown says that the message of the American gospel is not Jesus saying to us, "Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Me, but, Affirm yourself, bypass the cross, and I'll follow you." There will surely be a lot of good in the latter, but if it pulls us away from Him, and it does, isn't it a good that has its roots in evil? Isn't anything that draws our hearts away from Him ultimately rooted in evil? Doesn't the devil use shiny things that appear good to lure us from He who is not only the best but all? It's why, like the crowds in John 6, we have no problem embracing Him as OUR Savior. We're just not anxious to have Him as our Lord, and we to be owned by Him. A Holy Helper, yes, a Holy Lord, not so much.
So, today, which name are you really most comfortable with? Which one in the end, truly describes your relationship with Him? As He calls upon you and me today, a call not just for the part, but the whole, in which direction do we walk? Towards or away from Him? If not towards Him, then, to whom in the end are we going to?
Blessings,
Pastor O
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