Is it time to rock the boat? Take this challenge: Please Disturb Me, Jesus!
Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, for which I am suffering… 2 Timothy 2:8-9 (ESV)
Authority.
Yet another word that encapsulates so much about our lives, and yet is rarely spoken.
Everyday, we make choices based on who the ‘authorities’ are on certain topics in our lives. If you have a head cold, do you believe the guy that says, “Keep drinking coffee,” or the guy who says, “Switch to green tea”? When you choose to stop drinking coffee, you have, by your actions, declared the green tea guy to be your “authority” on how to fight a cold.
If we are honest, it is a bit scary to trace back much our actions to their ‘authorities’. For example, who have we men declared to be our authority on relational joy when we elevate physical beauty above all other characteristics? It certainly is not the Bible (read Proverbs 31:30).
And then we get to Jesus: God made man, risen from the dead. This implies huge authority! Who else will have the most authoritative knowledge about life and death? Using pure logic, it would be the One who died and then came back to life. Not in a “I-was-dead-for-three-minutes-on-the-operating-table” kind of way. But dead for three whole days. Christ ought to be our authority on so many matters and many of us confess that.
Today, let us take a look at our actions, our habits, our character. Who is our authority?
Thank You Father, for not only sitting in heaven and declaring that You are the Lord of all, but coming down and showing us Your power over sin and death. Please expose those areas of our lives where we give authority to people and things that we ought not to; even in preference to You. Help us trust Your saving work in dying in rising from the dead as those areas are exposed.
Take Action
Take some time today and take stock of who you consider to have authority in your life. What are the consequences of choosing them as having authority over you? Do you “sit at the feet” of culture by excessive media intake?
Practice Spiritual Breathing today (inhale those that are of God, exhale –confess– those that aren’t), and allow God to take authority over you.