Resurrenderنموونە

THE PURPOSE OF RESURRENDER: HUMILITY

Jesus turned the world upside down.

The message that Jesus preached was counter cultural. Everything he said turned religion on its head, and it upset the self-righteous and arrogant religious leaders who were peddling their own agendas at the time.

When Jesus walked the earth, religion was a way to make money, gain influence, and increase your power. Religious leaders would sit in their special seats and pray their special prayers with their special clothes on. Every tradition and custom became the spiritual gauge as to whether the people were righteous before God. Now don’t get me wrong; I am not bashing religion. Jesus still practiced traditional Jewish customs, and to this day we as believers have customs that we continue to practice, but our religious practices never replace a real relationship with God.

The religious leaders abused the power and authority that they possessed in order to manipulate people, causing them to live in fear. But then Jesus appears—a man who would heal the sick on the sabbath, a leader who gave to the poor, who touched the leper, who included the outcast, who sat with the sinner. Jesus was everything that the religious leaders were not and did everything they didn’t do.

In a world where everyone was trying to increase, Jesus came to decrease. Instead of coming to be served, he came to serve. Instead of taking his throne among the social elite, He broke bread with the down and out. Instead of bathing in riches, he washed the disciples’ feet. Instead of wining and dining the politically powerful, Jesus comforted the broken. Instead of turning religion into gain, Jesus served those in need. Everything about Jesus exclaimed humility.

To RESURRENDER means "to yield anew." And to yield is to give way. This idea of yielding is best displayed by humility. And Jesus was the ultimate example. Jesus constantly humbled himself, and instead of taking His title, using His position, and abusing His power, Jesus chose to yield. He humbled himself, even to death on a cross, and chose to resurrender His life for ours.

I have found that the biggest enemy that we will ever face is SELF. When things go bad, it’s easy to blame God, but when things are great, we always find a way to take the credit. Our default nature is to find and take the glory all for ourselves. But a life that is surrendered points all the glory to Jesus. In the same way He humbled himself, we too choose to humble ourselves and send the glory to the only one who can handle it.

Throughout the New Testament, Paul constantly encourages the church to die to themselves. For us today, the message of discipleship has not changed. We too, are called to die to our own desires, our own agendas, and our own plans. I have learned that on my own I cannot manufacture favor, manipulate blessing, or mass produce opportunity. To live out God’s call on my life, I need to let God orchestrate my situation and order my steps.

To be raised up, means to come low. When we humble ourselves, when we yield, when we resurrender to God, we begin to make room for God to move in our lives. God is the one who promotes, God is the one who raises up, and when we start to trust Him, He begins to take us to places that we would have never thought possible.

QUESTIONS:

1. In what ways have you seen that pride has crept into your life?
2. What practical things can you do to bring more humility into your life today?