In the south “dying to live” isn’t a popular view to discuss in Christianity. Many get sucked into believing they’re hardcore Christians because they attend church and have bible verses on their Twitter handles.
This topic needs discussion in millennial circles. We hover towards comfort and approval. We want the security of God in eternal life, but nothing more. This doesn’t give us God, only heaven. And how good is heaven if God isn’t there?
That is a dangerous, revealing, necessary question and we must ask ourselves in honesty. Is Jesus really Lord of all? In my generation He has been painted as a Savior who accepts all but never asks for allegiance; a Lord who serves but doesn’t require our reverence; in other terms, a distant deity. It’s as if we want John 3:16 without Matthew 16:25[1].
Jesus Wants In
I heard an analogy long ago comparing our lives to an old, janky cruise ship. The rooms of the ship represent different areas of our lives that we hold dear to us: ranging from relationships, habits, and idols, big and small.
Some doors read sexual past, future plans, food preference.
Health issues, history of abuse, grief.
Addictions, family, anxiety.
When we’re made New, Jesus enters our ships and becomes the good captain who not only mans the ship but also brings it to factory condition. He can make this happen because He is the one who created us! Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. We were created to enjoy Him forever, but because of our human condition, stained by sin, our desires naturally bend a different direction.
Maybe the door of reconciliation between you and your father has been opened, and the Lord is doing serious work in it. Maybe the Prince of Peace busts through doors such as fear of public speaking and online shopping addiction. Despite the Lord doing work in these areas, some doors are easier to invite Him into than others. How dare He touch my plans for marriage or fill in the blank.
What would the gospel be if Jesus were only here to merely change our external bad habits? Nothing. However, Jesus has come in power to change our hearts, meaning that He doesn’t only want the easy doors like underage drinking or cussing, but he wants your deepest desires.
He wants your life – all of it.
We must give him the entire ship. Not just the deck. Every single door must be infiltrated and changed from the inside out because we believe that He can bring us back to shape through the work of the Holy Spirit.
Some of us can’t believe this. We don’t believe that God can actually clean us up in the places that guilt and shame us deeply. We don’t believe that Jesus is good enough to satisfy us like our functional Saviors can.
What good is the gospel if He can heal the addiction to weed but not the addiction to pornography? Is God powerful enough to show you that He is greater than drunkenness but not that fourth plate at Golden Corral? Is Jesus not Lord of both day and night? Or do we want Him to choose what He is Lord over?
Family, we are fickle and desperate to find lasting joy. The things we look to for wholeness are fleeting, and we know it. For years we have heard that “Jesus is better” but have we felt it? He has gone tremendous lengths to make us new. Only in Christ can you be wholly broken yet fully healed and accepted.
There are probably doors that you are becoming aware of in your life that you wouldn’t dare Jesus to go near, many not even listed here. I have them too. They disable me from experiencing the true joy that’s found when we abandon ourselves. Jesus says your faith has made you well. [2]
It’s grace alone by faith alone that we can trust Jesus to heal our hurt and the sensitive areas of our lives. Let Jesus have it all.
‘Cause Jesus paid it all
All to Him I owe
Sin had left a crimson stain
He washed it white as now
[1] “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”
[2] Mark 5:34
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