As a young Christian I was involved in a form of martial arts called Christian Bushido. Translated this means "Christian Warrior Way" You see the Bushi were Japanese Samurai, warriors. Their entire life purpose was to serve their master or lord and to die for him if called upon to do so. So you may ask how does this apply to us? God created the human race for His own purpose. He loves each and every one of us desires for us to love Him. He desires the very best for us. He created us with a free will so that we could come to love Him on our own.

Many Christians today have no problem going to the Lord in their time of need. Wheather financial or physical they know that God promised to take care of their needs and to provide them a way of escape.

 

"And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in Glory."

Philippians 4:19

Unfortunately this is where it tends to stop. Many Christians and non-Christians alike will run to Jesus during their time of need, but when the crisis has ended they go off and live for the world until the next crisis comes along. These people have made Jesus their savior.

"You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. "

James 4:4

Many Christians will openly tell you that Jesus is their Lord and Savior without realizing that these are two separate things. If a Christians pattern is to run to Jesus in their time of need and to do as they please the rest of the time, then they have made Him a god of convenience. Jesus desires to be both savior and lord. Lordship is something that most people are unfamiliar with, especially in a country such as this that has always known freedom, for a lord is a person who has authority over others, a master, chief, or ruler. To say that Jesus is Lord is to say that he has total authority over you. He is your master.

People go about their daily lives dealing with the day-to-day issues. They struggle to make it, to pay bills, to recover from sickness etc., and never realize that true happiness comes from a total commitment to God, to make Him their master, their Lord.

This takes us back to the Bushi. The Bushi depend on their master for all their needs, such as food and shelter. These men were completely sold out to the service of their master. This is the model of what we are supposed to do with regard to our relationship to God. We are to make Him master of our lives, to depend on Him completely. We need to make time to worship Him, to pray to Him each and every day. We need to plan our lives around His will not our own. To make Jesus your Lord means to completely surrender to His will, to be a servant. The Apostle Paul is responsible for writing most of the New Testament. You will notice as you read his books that many times he introduces himself as a bondservant or slave to the Lord. Paul made the decision in his life to make Jesus his Lord as well as his savior. It is no wonder that God used him in such a tremendous way. God has a plan for your life, a destiny. He wants to use you as well, but you must make Him the lord of your life. You must be obedient; you must worship Him and pray to Him. Spend time in fellowship with Him. Then and only then will He allow His great and mighty blessings and the fullness of His destiny into your life.

Michael Vines

1-26-04