“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like.” – Luke 6:46-47 (NIV)
When Tabatha told me the name of Jesus for this devotion was “Lord,” I thought that would be easy. We use that often and of course I know what that means. However, as I studied and thought more about this, I realized that I might know the basic meaning, but do I do as Jesus asks me to do in this verse and why?
Do I obey the Lord’s commandments and carry them out as He wishes each day? Do I come to Him, listen to Him, and then put the commands into practice? I think we all need to ask that of ourselves and ask God too.
In the book of Luke, we see several examples of people who really saw and recognized Jesus as Lord. For most of them, it made a difference in their lives to come close to Him, to listen to Him, and to have His power change their lives. Others knew who He was, but they did not make Him Lord.
Here are some verses to consider:
Luke 4:41 The demons knew who Jesus was.
Luke 5:8 Peter saw Jesus produce lots of fish and was humbled.
Luke 7:6 The Centurion said he was not worthy.
Luke 8:25 Disciples were humbled at the winds calming on the sea.
Luke 19:8 Zacchaeus knew Jesus and was broken and changed.
There are also many people in the book of John who were transformed by Jesus. He became Lord to them. Martha, Peter, Thomas, Philip, Mary, and of course in Acts, Paul, Ananias, Silas, and others. We can see their lives before and after their encounter with Jesus. They believed and changed with His help.
If we attend church, read the Bible, and go to Bible studies, but do not lay down ourselves before our Lord and allow Him to transform us, we have not let Him be Lord in our lives.
When I was a child growing up, I was in stressful situations at home and had deep fears. I used to walk downtown to our family church and sit in the chapel and pray and even cry at times. Often I did not know why. I did not see much change, but I knew God was with me. He was making my path straight. He allowed me to be accepted into one of the best music schools in the country, to find a church where I found other Christian students, and to sit under a wonderful teacher who was a missionary.
One day in the church service, the pastor was talking about sin. Oh my! In the church where I grew up, there was not much talk about sin. We were supposed to not sin but do good. For the first time, at age nineteen, the light went off and I realized that I was a sinner and that I needed forgiveness. I wanted to be close to God and I had been seeking Him but did not know what I needed to do. I confessed I had come up short and needed to turn my life and hope over to Him. I needed to make Him Lord in my life! I still remember standing there and feeling such relief. My life changed and has been changing since!
I met my husband, Paul in that Sunday School class, we served as officers in the Michigan Intervarsity Chapter and were married three years later. The Lord has been continuing to change and transform me. I have learned what trusting Him with my fears means, and He continues to use us in many different ways. Ways we would not have thought of for ourselves, like hosting International Students, foster care, adoption, running for the Board of Education, teaching Bible Studies, and more.
God is so good. We need to come to Him, listen to Him, and let Him direct our actions. He wants us to be fulfilled and be filled with Him. The process of making Him Lord in our lives is continuous. We can always improve and carry out actions for and with Him. I want to be a person filled with Him and put His words into practice with His help.
I look forward to doing this work together. Let us remember to come to our Lord, listen to Him, and practice His words. If we have asked Jesus to be Lord, we are being transformed and we are becoming people of action as Luke 6:46-47 says.