Who is Driving Your Life?
A man is driving down the road when he sees a hitchhiker ahead. He slows down and realizes the hitchhiker is Jesus. He stops. “Jump in,” the man says motioning with his thumb to the back seat. “No thanks,” Jesus says, “I'll wait.” The man drives slowly away before he realizes that Jesus doesn't want to sit in the back seat. He stops. He backs up the car. “Sorry about that. Here jump in the front next to me,” the man says. “No thanks,” Jesus replies, “I'll wait.” Puzzled the man asked Jesus,“What do you want?” Jesus replied, “I want to drive.” Who is driving my life? Who is deciding where I will go, what I will do and who I will spend time with? I want Jesus to drive my life. I know He can do it better than any one else, including me.
Jesus the CenterI see a lot of people who try to carry Jesus around in there back pocket. Like a fire insurance policy to keep them out of hell. Or a Monopoly “get out of hell free” card. Or maybe Jesus is their asbestos underwear to protect them from the fires of hell. Whatever they are thinking, Jesus is not a major player in their day-to-day choices and activities. He is, at best, an after thought.Jesus wants to be the center. Of my life. Of your life. He does NOT want to be #1. He wants to be #only. In Exodus 20, I can find the 10 Suggestions . . . I mean the 10 Commandments from the LORD, my God. The first commandment is “you shall have no other god before me.” (v. 3, NIV) Then it says, “you may have 5 or 6 gods after me.” No, it doesn't! In fact, some translations read, “you shall have no other god besides me.” Dawson Trotman, the founder of The Navigators, came up with a helpful illustration called The Wheel. The Wheel Illustration has helped me grow toward Christlikeness. I use my obedience to measure who is the center of my life. To check on who is driving.
How I Use The Wheel Illustration
Making the Lord Jesus Christ the Center of my life is an urgent matter.
Practical discipleship tips for creating urgency in life
JesusThe name Jesus is an imitation of the Greek form of Jeshua. Which in turn, is a form of Jehoshua or Joshua. Which means Jehovah is salvation. Jesus the ChristThe name Christ is the Greek term for anointed. Meaning the anointed one. The title Christ corresponds to the Hebrew name Messiah, which denoted the anointed king of Israel. The Jewish people were looking for the anointed king of Israel to save them from everything that caused suffering. Jesus was that anointed king. The term Christ has come to represent savior. If Jesus is your Christ, it means you have taken him as your Savior. Jesus is my Christ. He is my savior. Jesus Christ is my anointed salvation. Jesus the LordJesus wants to be more than my Savior. He wants to be my Lord. The Greek word for Lord is Kurios. It means master or sir. Jesus wants to be my master. He wants to drive my life. He wants to make the decisions. Usually, when I think of some one being my master, I think of being a servant. And my thoughts about being a servant are not good ones. I think about what I have to give up. Freedom of choice, freedom to pursuit what I want. Freedom to do what I want. It takes some effort on my part to consider what I gain in the deal. A servant or slave is actually in a better position than a hired worker. The hired worker is paid a wage in exchange for labor. It is true that they have the freedom to chose who they will work for, but they are at the mercy of the employer. They can be fired at any time for most any reason. Slaves can't be fired. Slaves must be cared for. They must be fed, clothed, and sheltered. All at the master's expense. Medical must be provided. Training and resources to do the required work must be provided. All at the master's expense. Protection, security, peace, and well being must be provided. You guessed it, all at the master's expense. I choose Jesus as my Lord. I get the better end of the deal.
Practical discipleship tips for living with Jesus as Lord Jesus the ManJesus is a man. He is all God and He is all man. Don't ask me to explain it much better. Ask a pastor or a priest. They might explain it better. Visit a theological web site or read a book on systematic theology. You will get a better explanation. What I can tell you, is that Jesus is a man. And that is important to me. It means He understands what I face here on earth. He has a complete understanding of my needs, desires, concerns, and the trials and temptations I face. Because Jesus is human, I can have a relationship with Him just like any person. I am not the most relational guy in the world. I tend to be more of a steward. I am good with, methods, programs, stuff. But sometimes I struggle relating to people. God in human form can reach out to me and over come my struggles. My most intimate time with Jesus is through my quiet time. Quiet TimeQuiet time is an interesting term. Do I sit quietly by myself and think about God? Is it like a time out? Do I sit in a corner and stare? Its called a quiet time because I need to do it some place quiet. I can't do it in front of the television, or listening to an iPod. I can't do it any place where I am distracted and unable to give my full attention to Jesus.A quiet time is me meeting with Jesus and giving Him my undivided attention. There is a small booklet called “My Heart Christ's Home.” In this booklet published by InterVarsity, Robert Munger describes a scene in which God is sitting in a big overstuffed chair. Next to Him is an empty overstuffed chair. Each day He is waiting in His chair for me to come and sit down next to him and visit with Him. The choice is always mine, because He is always there. Over 6 billion people in the world and He has the capacity to sit down and visit with each one of us individually. If we are willing. If Jesus Christ is in the center of my life, He will be sitting on the throne calling the shots. He will have a seat next to Him waiting for me to come and hang out with Him any time of the day or night. He desires to hang out with me more than I desire to hang out with Him. . . . and that is what my quiet time is for.
Practical discipleship tips for having a Quiet Time
Posted on June 5, 2008
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