WHO ELSE IS WORTHY?

Judges 9:22-10:18; Luke 24:13-53; Psalm 100:1-5; Proverbs 14:11-12

“When they oppressed you, you cried out to me for help, and I rescued you. Yet you have abandoned me and served other gods. So I will not rescue you anymore. Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen! Let them rescue you in your hour of distress!”

“’You foolish people! You find it so hard to believe all that the prophets wrote in the Scriptures….’ With my authority, take this message of repentance to all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem: ‘There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent.’”

Certain people claim accepting Jesus is an exercise of the heart more than the head. Some go so far as to assert we will never come to Christ through our intellect. I beg to differ…, strenuously! There is much illogical about God’s love for us, but there’s absolutely nothing illogical about our accepting the Spirit’s lordship. Indeed, considering the alternatives, nothing else makes as much sense. At least, that’s the conclusion I came to when considering the following for myself:

1. I am a sinner who falls short way too often. Left unaddressed, my failures will be fatal to my relationships and my own self-image. I know this, because I have experienced it. There is no contrary argument that withstands truthful scrutiny.

2. I am incapable of saving myself from my failures. I need forgiveness, but more than that, I need a Savior.

3. Christ promises to save me, if only I will accept His Lordship.

4. No one else, and no other thing, is worthy to be Lord of my life.

If we accept we need some Savior, considering the alternatives, Jesus is the only logical choice. The battle usually rages between self and the Spirit. We do not surrender control gracefully. But we are no more worthy to govern our own lives than is a golden calf. Here, then, is the ultimate battleground: pride. It is pride, not intellect, which separates us from God. We just don’t do submission very well.

Rejection of Christ or His Will usually is a product of pride. Feeling that we know better than God is an easy symptom to identify.  What is more insidious is the lack of self-evaluation which would lead us to the Spirit. Whenever we decline to look at our lives with honest objectivity and refuse to own our faults, all we are really doing is pridefully rejecting any indication that might lead us to God. This is understandable. Humans dislike vulnerability. We forget, though, that there is no real vulnerability in Christ. First, God already knows our faults; it would be impossible for us to be more vulnerable to Him. Second, however, the Blood of Jesus washes those faults away; when God looks at us, He sees Jesus. The most logical thing in the world, then, would be to immerse ourselves in Christ and accept His Lordship over our lives. No one else is worthy to be so trusted, including – especially – ourselves.