When we submit
our life to God, we
still often hesitate to completely surrender to Him the total power over our
existence.
We
have a lifetime of experience with people letting us down, disappointing us and
breaking their promises and commitments to us.
At
this point, we often swing to the opposite side of the pendulum. We are totally
committed to Christ and we do not want to displease Him.
Therefore,
we diligently search the Bible in order to completely understand the rules and
regulations of the law and what He wants from us.
We
attempt to religiously adhere to even the most vague letter of the law (Matthew
5:18). Our heart is in the right place, because we do not want to disappoint
God.
However,
no amount of striving will produce any amount of righteousness in us at all
(Titus 3:5; Ephesians 2:9). Every bit of our righteousness amounts to nothing
more than a pile of old, dirty rags (Isaiah 64:6).
According
to the Bible, those who trust in their own efforts are foolish (Galatians
3:1-3). God knows that we will drive our self crazy, if we continue to attempt
to maintain control over our life.
Eventually,
God’s Spirit leads us to the point in our life where we step over this boundary
of fear into the freedom of faith and trust in Him.
Those
who walk in God’s wisdom are kept safe. Since, we understand and know the Lord
intimately, He exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on our behalf
(Proverbs 28:26; Jeremiah 9:23-24).
He
delights in us and we are His people. He is our Good Shepherd and we are the
sheep of His pasture (Psalm 95:7; 100:3).
Prayer:
Father
God, our old way of life is gone forever, and now everything is completely new
(2 Corinthians 5:17). Thank You for ordering our days and blessing us in every
area of our life as we trust in You. Your ways are perfect. (Psalm 139:16; 2
Corinthians 9:8).
Your
Son is the God of Truth and there is no iniquity in Him (Deuteronomy 32:4).
Yet, He suffered the persecution and death of a common criminal to set us free
from bondage to sin and death (Romans 6:23). Thank you that Jesus died to raise
us up to walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4).
Thought
for the Day:
Some
people boast in their wisdom, strength or riches, but their house is built upon
the sand; however, we want to build our house on the Rock of Jesus Christ;
therefore, even though we believe, we often need God to help us in our
unbelief.
– Matthew 7:26; Mark 9:24
