KYRIOS: Lord

I do believe, Lord help my unbelief…

The Meaning of His Name:

Thomas was a close-in follower of Jesus.  He’d spent lots and lots of time with Him; shared meals, inside jokes, intimate unveiling of souls.  He’d watched Jesus decimate spiritual snobs and lend dignity to a prostitute. He’d felt the rush of joy as a little boy climbed out of his closed coffin. Thomas had seen the tears He’d wept over the lost-ness of wayward people.

But when push came to shove, Thomas walked away.

When Jesus told his disciples to believe in Him, He wasn’t referring to their intellectual ability to grasp reality. Nor was He asking them to drum up a mass of misguided emotion in order to feel something.

Instead, He reached into the simple vocabulary of everyday people and drew out a word that in English carries rich connotations.  To believe (pisteuo), means to entrust yourself to someone.  It is a word that implies obedience.

He was asking His followers to fall back in faith and completely entrust their lives to Him.

And He hasn’t stopped asking.  What He still wants from each of His followers is all tied up in this name: Lord.

Do you get that?

Not just warm-fuzzy, nice and cozy friend.

He is Lord!

He wants to own you.

He wants to dictate your days, rule over your relationships, and heap the riches of His kingdom on your life.

Okay, you say, I’m going to do better today, I promise. Today I’ll obey.  I’ll be good.  I know what He’s asking of me and I’m gonna do it, yes I am!

But you won’t.  Not a chance.

And here’s why—you keep trying to obey without believing.

Of course you fail! The minute He asks something of you that seems unreasonable, something that you cannot analyze or categorize— something that wiggles your soul out of the status quo, you bail.

Like turning the other cheek.  Like submitting to your not-always-nice husband or boss or teacher or dad. Like giving instead of grabbing.  Like loving instead of walking away.

Without faith, without intensive entrusting of every facet of yourself to Him

you cannot,

will not,

won’t

allow Him to be Lord of your life.

His Lordship rides on the back of His love for you, my friend.  Will you entrust your mind, your heart, your very soul to that love?

After all, Jesus is…Lord.

From my heart,

Diane

Mark 16:14

John 20:19-29

John 6:22-30

Hebrews 11