Words from the Rock
When you lift up the Son of Man, you will know that I am he. You will know that these things I do are not by my own authority but that I say only what the Father has taught me. The One who sent me is with me. I always do what is pleasing to him, so he has not left me alone.
John 8:28–29 NCV
Even though Jesus was the Messiah, the chosen one, and God’s own Son—which means he’s actually the same as God—he still understood that his life on earth was authorized by God. In other words, he knew that any power he had on earth came directly from God. He accepted that all he knew had been given to him by God, and he respected that all he did was a direct result of God’s authorization. Jesus was totally aware of this amazing and powerful connection, and he never tried to function without God’s authority. So why would anyone?
Yet we do. We live “unauthorized” lives when we try to get by without God. Maybe it’s not intentional, but we do it just the same. There are times when we think we have enough strength or brains or resources or whatever, and we attempt to proceed through our lives without any assistance from God.
Even if we do manage to stumble through, we have to ask ourselves, how lame is that? Especially when we consider that God is just waiting for us to call on him, to connect ourselves to him, so that he can use his authority to direct us through life. Yet we continually come up with excuses to keep him at arm’s length. Maybe we just have to learn the hard way.
We need to remember that Jesus, the Son of God, never tried to do anything on his own. He knew that he needed God’s authority with him every minute of the day and every single step of the way. Jesus never took God’s authority for granted. Why would we want to live life any differently?
My Prayer
Dear God,
I admit that I often leave you out of certain things. I’m not even sure why. Please remind me that I need you. Help me to remain connected to you and to notice what a difference your authority makes in my life.
Amen.
Final Word
For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.
2 Timothy 1:7 NASB
Stone for the Journey
To make my life really work, I must be authorized by God.