One of the main reasons why God is God is because He is Lord over our lives. Too often we tend to overemphasise on Jesus being Saviour, Provider, Comforter or Protector yet miss out on Jesus being Lord. Jesus is referred to as Lord over 618 times in the whole New Testament.
When Jesus is Lord, we submit to Him and take His commands seriously.
But did you know that we can also be going with the rules yet still miss the point? In Matthew 7:21, Jesus said, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven."
Calling Jesus Lord and maybe even obeying one commandment or two are not what submitting to His Lordship means. Sometimes we can get the commands and the formalities but miss out on the essence of Jesus' Lordship.
Here are three ways when that usually happens.
1. Removing love
1 Corinthians 13:1-3 lists for us a bunch of commands "fulfilled" but missing the mark simply because it lacks love. Love is the motivation to every command that God gives us. He gives us these commandments out of His love for us and desire to protect us from the atrocities of sin, and He calls us to obey out of love for Him and love for other people.
Love is the greatest of all forces in this world, and without it even the most major commandments will be taken the wrong way. That's the problem the Pharisees had—they knew the laws but forgot the motivation behind them, which is love.
2. Failing to see who God is
God doesn't command us for the sake of just throwing His weight around. God is a purposeful and intentional God who has a reason for every command He gives us. One of the most important reasons God gives us His commands is to show us His attributes.
The most important question we must ask when we read about or hear God's commands is to look to who He is. Look for God's holiness, righteousness, goodness, wisdom, and glory in every command He gives.
3. Missing out on the promise
With every command, God gives a promise that brings blessing and hope to us all. Too often we take our eyes of the prize. And of all prizes, the greatest is His presence. We follow God's commands because we want to walk with Him and in Him.
And it must be noted that because of what Jesus has done for us, we now have access to these promises. Moreover, the Holy Spirit also gives us the capability to walk in God's laws, thus helping us fulfill God's promises over our lives as well. It's never about what we can do for God, but really about what He has already done for us.
