BACK SEAT!

Galatians 3:26-28 (NKJV)
Sons and Heirs
26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Many believe if they surrender their lives that's it, they have a free ticket into heaven without any further to do. Well, sorry to be a bubble burster, but that is not exactly true.

You see, giving your life is just one part of a special journey, before baptism, to that awesome place of eternal hope called 'Heaven'. It is part of a process that should bring us closer to a wonderful relationship with Jesus Christ. I say should because when we choose to be baptized, it is because of a desire that God implants into our hearts after we have surrendered our lives to Him and accepted Him as our Redeemer.

I am able to say this because I was guilty of doing the lawful deed that the church required. I only gave my life and believed it was all that was required. I continued to live the way I always did, of the world, however, I suffered conviction like never before, and did not understand why.

You see, you can't give to God and expect to take back, it does not work. He takes what you give Him and holds onto it forever, and as He holds He works. His ways are not like that of man and so every time you step out of line, He lets you know supernaturally. He then guides you the right way. We can choose to accept His way or we can continue on our own.

I, for quite some time, held onto what I thought was right. Consequently, I kept on suffering on my own with no way of relieving the stress. I never read my bible or sought any help from the church because I stopped attending, as there seemed to be better ways to spent my time. My life continued the same, without any of the blissful fruit that God so wanted me to enjoy from Him.

God placed the appropriate people of His choice in my way. In time, conviction drove me closer to God and I started attending church again because of an inner desire to seek what I did not really understand. I started to understand my convictions and where they were coming from. Instead of following the ways of man, I adopted a new way of life, the life that Jesus was so desperately wanting me to lead. It was not long before the fruits of righteousness started tasting so good, to the point where I wanted them more and more.

I grew closer and closer until being baptized in the Holy Spirit did not come as a command from the church, but rather as a deep desire of my heart. I desired to die of old and be born into newness with God. I needed to be faithful to Him and not lawful to man as before.

Now, when I stumble, I love the conviction I suffer because it helps me to refocus on where and what and how I should be, and God's loving arms have become a place I love to rest after a fall.

So, the moral of this story is, don't stop just because you believe the road ends and you do not need to move on, on the contrary, the road does not end at all, it just gets narrower and you need to focus more and keep your eyes on it. It gets narrower as you move closer to God, but as it thins out, so God grows bigger in you as He takes over the controls of your life. He becomes your driver so that you can take a back seat and trust in His lead.

Lord Jesus, thank You for being the driver of my life, and for allowing me to be the passenger I need to be. However, please forgive me for the times when I try to step in and take over again, and as I do, put me back into the backseat where I belong, in Jesus name I pray, amen.