Many people want Jesus as a savior for forgiveness and eternal life, but if few want Him as Lord who requires daily surrender and obedience.
A savior rescues people from Sin, pain, and judgment. It focuses on receiving grace, peace, and a promise of heaven. But a Lord rules over daily life, choices, habits, finances, and time. It requires giving up personal control to follow God‘s will.
In Luke 9:23 Jesus states, “If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.”
In Luke 6:46 Jesus asks why people call Him “Lord, Lord, yet do not do what He says.”
It is a beautiful thing to welcome Jesus at our savior. When we realize the weight of our sins, we gladly reach out for His hand to rescue us from the dark pit, we eagerly accept the gift of eternal life and the promise of heaven. We praise Him as Savior who washes us clean.
When we confess that Jesus is Lord, we are acknowledging that He is the supreme authority, the creator, and the ruler of all things. True faith doesn’t allow us a slice of Jesus in half worshiping Him on Sunday while ignoring Him as Lord on Monday. He is not merely a celestial insurance policy. He must be the Master of our daily reality.
Billy Graham once said, proclaiming Jesus as Lord means, “ giving Him a key that fits every single door, every lock and every room of your life.” This includes the messy things we try to hide from the world.
Too often, we hand Jesus the key to our “church room” or our “crisis room,” but we lock the doors to our finances, our career ambitions, our relationships, and our secret habits. True discipleship means unlocking every single door, and saying, “Jesus, this is all Yours. Have Your way in my life.”
Surrendering to His Lordship doesn’t mean serving a harsh, demanding, dictator. Jesus is a self sacrificing, deep kind King who serves as our ultimate treasure. When we bow to His authority, we aren’t losing our freedom, we are placing our lives into the hands of the One who loves us perfectly.
