Articles
Leave The Driving To Jesus
We can't ask Jesus to be our guide, to lead us, and then ask Him to ride in the back seat. We need to learn that the back seat is where we are to sit.
Jesus, talking to His disciples said, "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me..." (Matt 16:24) Put into today's language, we need to move over and let Him drive. Learning to tell ourselves 'no' isn't easy, nor is putting our pride aside. But both are necessary. When Luke recorded the same words of Christ, Luke added something that helps us to understand even better. Luke said we must deny ourselves and take up our cross 'daily'!. It's a continual thing, where we don't just let Jesus drive on occasion, He becomes our permanent driver.
We might go one step further and compare Jesus to the captain of a huge ship, or better yet, an airliner. We need to place total faith in the fact that not only does He know where we are going, but He knows the way, and we trust that He is capable of delivering us safely. We can place our lives into His hands, and we can have total trust and faith that He will safely pilot us to where we need to go.
If you are like me, sometimes you find yourself still trying to drive yourself, or you try on occasion to drive from the back seat. For me, it's not so much a lack of trust in Jesus' abilities, as it is me remembering that I'm supposed to be in the back seat as a passenger, not a co-driver. What we need to work toward is maturity, when we are no longer tossed around by Satan, or arguing over who gets to drive, but a time when we are totally committed to Christ, and totally desiring to leave the driving to Him.
I hope today that this has caused you to at least look at yourself in the mirror, and consider whether or not you have given yourself fully to Him. In the book of Revelations, we read about the church in Layodicea, (Rev 3:14-22). As you read these words, consider where you stand today.
“To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:
These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. 15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.
19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. 20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.
21 To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” NIV
