I want to take the opportunity in this Easter season to talk about authority. I wish I could chat with you face to face and find out what the word authority means to you.
For some of us, it is a great word. We enjoy having it and we have also enjoyed really fulfilling experiences under good authority.
However, for some of us, authority is a word that makes us feel powerless, miserable, and controlled. We have been under the authority of someone maybe our parents or under a boss that has made us feel so resentful to authority in our lives.
Who is in authority over you?
I have a house full of teenagers and in different degrees, all of them are struggling with authority. They are growing up and learning to be more independent however they still abide under our roof so therefore they are still to a certain extent under our authority. I see the frustration as they want to be independent but I also see the security they enjoy in coming under our authority.
As Jesus was hung on the cross the soldiers following Roman custom decided to put a title above Jesus’ head. They wrote on the sign Jesus king of the Jews. Now they meant to do this in order to mock and shame him as he hung there dying but little did they know that they were declaring the true identity of Jesus Christ.
He was indeed the King of the Jews but even greater than that, He was king to all mankind.
I want to ask you today. Is Jesus King of your life?
I have had conversations with young adults about their frustration with Christianity and their hesitance to allow Jesus to have full control of their lives. They want to “live life a little” while they are young. In other words, they are saying that having Jesus as Lord will restrict them, so they want to enjoy their freedom before they give up control.
How about you? Is that how you see your relationship with God. If you were to make him Lord over every aspect of your life would that limit your happiness and fulfillment in life?
I have been reminded this week about the ‘fun’ of freedom. People doing whatever they want and ignoring God’s kingship in their lives and I have seen the devastating consequences of choices made by embracing earthly freedom.
I think we often experience the illusion that giving authority to God will rob us of our freedom. But the reality is that our own selfish choices are the things that rob our freedom. Our selfish choices limit our opportunities and cause us pain.
In John 8:36 we read if the Son sets you free you are free indeed.
True freedom comes from living our lives in the shadow of Christ making Him king and allowing His desires to become our desires, His ways to become our ways, and His heart to invade our hearts. Freedom is found in allowing Christ to lead our journey.
It’s only when we do this that we will truly know what freedom is.
King David understood this when he wrote in Psalm 119:45
I will walk in freedom because I have devoted myself to your commandments.
David is declaring that walking in God’s commandments brings a life of freedom.
When we decide to follow Christ we make a decision to make him king of our lives.
We do this not so that we are controlled and manipulated we do it because we trust that having Christ as king in our lives brings us a freedom that cannot be found through our own means.
It’s when we step out from the covering of our king that we find that our life becomes complicated and burdensome.
Jesus is a king like none other and when we give Him full authority in our lives we live in the incredible freedom He purchased for us on the cross.
If you haven’t already, why not give God permission this Easter to be king of kings in your life and enjoy the freedom and fulfillment that this will bring to your life.
Lord, I admit that I have been holding back some areas of my life from You. I am laying them down today deciding to trust in you fully and completely with my life.
Amen
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