I’ve got a question for you:
Could there be one over-arching problem that plagues humankind? Is there one obstacle we’ve not overcome, one decision we’ve not made, from which all brokenness originates? Is there one foundational problem that, if resolved, would mean our struggles would find a solid solution and our brokenness would find its healing?
I believe the answer is yes, and it’s found in Exodus 20:2-3:
“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me.”
The overarching problem facing humankind is lordship: We don’t make God our LORD.
A god is anything or anyone that has our primary devotion. Often, we become that god. We cater to the “god of what I want.” We treat God as if He is here to do what we want. Sometimes, we rarely acknowledge Him at all.
A lord is someone who rules over us; someone who has ownership of and gets the final say in all matters concerning us. On a human level, it appears to be the polar opposite of true freedom. Yet I propose that God’s command to make Him your LORD is the most loving and life-giving requirement He could make. For whether on a national or personal level, one fact is true:
“Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people He chose for His inheritance.” Psalm 33:12
The call to submit to God’s Lordship is repeated often in the Bible:
“I will be your God and you will be My people.”
Almighty God will be your God. He will make you one of His people. He wants you to become His treasured possession, a person on whom He pours out His love. Someone for whom He will perform mighty acts.
When submitted to His Lordship, God’s people saw:
A sea part, revealing dry land and a route of escape…
Their food fall from heaven, day after day…
Seemingly impenetrable walls crumble in an instant…
Wars won and enemies defeated, even when severely outnumbered…
Under God’s Lordship, His people were repeatedly delivered out of the devastation caused by their sin. They were given a hope and future they could never have generated or earned.
Jesus submitted completely to God’s Lordship:
“Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant…He humbled Himself and became obedient to death — even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:6-8).
I have one more question:
If Jesus submitted to the Lordship of God, how can we do any less?
Make Jesus your LORD. Let doing so be the primary pursuit that drives you. It will be the foundation from which God pours out His amazing blessings and healing on you. It’s the relationship through which God brings His life to the world around you. With all that you are, seek Way #34 of 52 Ways to Glorify God:
Daily make God your LORD.
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