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God is
sovereign.
God created all that is, in that truth lies the obvious alternative:
God can also permanently destroy all that is as well. Consider
this, just as God made you, He can also unmake, or destroy, you.
He could, at His convenience, erase you from existence, both physically
and from the memory of those you know and love. You would simply
cease to exist. That is ultimate authority.
The acceptance, through faith and knowledge of God, of His comprehensive
sovereignty is the key to both understanding the person and work of
Christ and growth to spiritual maturity. While we cannot
comprehend the eternal nature of God or the extent of His power, we can
firmly grasp His authority.
To
say God is sovereign is one thing, to accept and act based on that
sovereignty is quite another. If we accept that God is the only
authority then our entire nature changes. Rather than saying that
He is our master, He becomes the master of our every action. His
will becomes our desire. And that transformation is a quantum leap
from just asking "What would Jesus do?" when we receive to much change
from a cashier.
God's sovereignty over our lives transforms our conscious choices from a
moral question of right or wrong, good or bad, which is wildly
influenced by the social conditioning of the world to a desire to seek,
and more importantly follow, His leading in all matters.
For instance, God's sovereignty in their lives leads missionaries to
leave their homes and families to share the gospel in far away places
for the advancement of God's kingdom even when the pressures of the
world would keep them at home to care for an ailing parent or to promote
a "successful" career.
God's sovereignty in their lives leads aid workers to locations with
extremely dire physical danger to care for the needs of the sick and
infirmed rather than remaining in the comfort zone of advanced medical
care.
God's sovereignty in their lives leads gifted shepherds and evangelists
to share in the material poverty of inner city flocks to tend to their
need for Christ.
In
Proverbs, Solomon was inspired by God to write: "Trust in the Lord with
all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all you ways
acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight." (Proverbs 3:5-6
NIV)
Think about that, we have a sovereign Lord that we can, and must, trust
fully, aside from our societal conditioning to be skeptical of those
that would seek to lead. God does not have to persuade you of
anything, He is already in full authority!
Think about the last time you received a call from a solicitor in the
middle of dinner. Have you ever stopped to think to ask God what
He requires of you for the sales person at the other end of the line?
Or do you allow your worldview to control your actions? Do you
just hang up, when that caller may in fact suffer eternal consequences
for your lack of desire to share the gospel? How will you answer
when God asks you about you handling of that divine appointment?
"'No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate one and love
the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.
You cannot serve both God and Money.'" Matthew 6:24 NIV
Are you truly serving only one master? Or are you trying to serve
two?
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