Submission

If there is one word in the English vocabulary that makes everyone turn tail and run it is Submit. We have coined that word with a negative meaning. The truth is, we have many areas of our life that we submit to without thinking about it. There are many in our culture though that resist any submission to any authority, and quite honestly, that attitude is that of our enemy, who attempted to place himself in the same ranking as God. (Isaiah 14:12-15) Now that should be a sobering thought for anyone who wants to call themselves a Christian.

Submission is not a bad thing at all, but we are not called to do it blindly. We are told to above all fear God with a holy reverence, and honor the king. (1 Peter 2:17) The apostles, when persecuted by the religious leaders of their time also said, "We must obey God rather than man." (Acts 5:29) Yet, Paul instructs us to submit to one another in Ephesians 5:21, out of respect for Christ. Submit to them in a way to humbly value them above yourself, (Philippians 2:3-4) for Christ Himself said, "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends." (John 15:13)

Jesus submitted Himself fully to the will of the Father in heaven, we are to do likewise. You see, this is the whole big thing about the temptation of Jesus in Matthew 4, Mark 1, and Luke 4. He was showing us by example of how to fight against the desires of the flesh and ward off the enemy. The second half of today's #CornerstoneVerseOfTheDay is, "resist the devil and he will flee from you." That is what submission is all about, keeping the enemy, which includes our own flesh, in their place.

Frank Peretti has an exhilarating speech about God's Way and Man's Way. He starts out by saying there are only two religions, God's Way or Man's Way. In the first God is God, in the second man is god. The scriptures are full of warnings against going man's way. From even the first sin in Genesis 3 the real kicker of the temptation was to "be like God." That is really what our true desire is, and it is foolishness.

The horse has the same desire. It wants to do it's own thing, go it's own way, do what is natural to the horse, because then it feels safe. But it is not safe. For when that horse is left to its own way it will always be on guard, always waiting for the mountain lion in the bush and anything that seems remotely like a mountain lion it will flee, therefore that horse is always on guard, never resting, always watching out for what is going to get them. When we also go our own way we are robbed of that peace as well and we are always looking out for those who are going to get us. That is the bottom line of everyone's anxieties and quarrels in this world.

When we rest in submission to the Lord we have peace, knowing that He is in control. That He has the power to work all things for the good of those who love Him. (Romans 8:28) In the same way, when we take our role as leader for the horse they are able to experience that same peace. The peace of knowing we have their back, that we are not going to lead them somewhere to cause them harm. Sometimes we have to walk through dark valleys and rough terrain, but when they know that we mean them no harm, but have their welfare and prosperity in mind, they go willingly and help us through. The same is with the Lord, sometimes we have to walk hard roads, sometimes we have to walk through the valley of the shadow of death, but we will fear no evil, for the Lord is with us. His rod and His staff give us comfort. (Psalm 23: 4)

Your charge now is to submit to God, and by submitting to God you will submit to others in holy reverence for the Lord. It will remove a huge weight from you, just as Jesus promised in Matthew 11:28-30, and He will give you rest, rest for your soul.