Day 6: His! | 1.9.26

A follower of Jesus is someone in whom the Holy Spirit has brought about this realization: “You are not your own” (1 Corinthians 6:19). To say, “I am not my own,” is to have reached a significant milestone in spiritual maturity. The true nature of that life in the daily uncertainty is shown by my willingness to give up myself to the Person of God, through a supreme decision, and that Person is Jesus Christ. Through His Spirit as Lord of my life, He reveals His nature to me to make me one with Him, not to make me a trophy for His showcase. Our Lord never sent any of His disciples out based on what He had done for them. It was not until after the resurrection, when the disciples had perceived through the power of the Holy Spirit who Jesus really was, that He said, “Go” (Matthew 28:19; also see Luke 24:49 and Acts 1:8).

“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26). He was not saying that this person cannot be good and upright, but that he cannot be someone over whom Jesus can write the word Mine. Any one of the relationships our Lord mentions in this verse can compete with our relationship with Him. I may prefer to belong to my mother, or to my wife, or to myself, but if that is the case, then, Jesus said, “You cannot be My disciple.” What is actually happening to us when we are not entirely His? What spiritual condition does this put us in? 

Our Lord makes His disciple His very own possession, becoming responsible for Him. “You shall be witnesses to Me” (Acts 1:8). The desire that comes into a disciple is not one of doing anything for Jesus, but of being a perfect delight to Him. The follower of Jesus’ secret is truly being able to say, “I am His, and He is accomplishing His work and His purposes through me.”

Be entirely His!