Acts 10:14: “But Peter said, ‘Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean.'”
April 7th, 2022 by Pastor Ed in devotionalWe find a beautifully ironic oxymoron here. Who could suggest that God Almighty does not have a sense of humor? Peter’s personal religious prejudices blinded and totally overrode his thinking. He absolutely understood that this was God speaking to him, as he clearly called Him, Lord. But to ever say to God these words, “No, Lord,” is completely self-contradictory. If He is Lord, then we cannot, should not, ever say to the Master of all, “No.” If we can say no, then He must not be Lord of our lives.
But there lies the problem. We have all said these words, in some way or another, to the Creator. Sometimes it is a passive no, when we simply don’t seek Him to guide us in a decision we are about to make. Sometimes it is a little more active rebellion, when we refuse to ask Him to lead us because we think we know what He will say if we do. Other times it is simply sinful, willful disobedience because we know exactly what He will say if we ask, and we want to do the opposite.
What choices are we facing in life today? Will we ask Him to help us make choices that are pleasing to Him? Is He really Lord of all our life? Here is the prayer of Lordship we have prayed hundreds, no make that thousands of times. Not because we didn’t mean it the first time we prayed it, but because we have to pray it often since we keep taking control back from His hands:
“LORD, we turn from our sins, please forgive our sins. We give You our life. It’s not our life it is Yours. LORD, we give You our time, our money, our family, our home, our hobbies, our church, our ______. These are all Yours and we give them back to You again in Jesus’ name.”