Yesterday I logged onto my ever-reliable GoogleReader (oh the joys of being a post-modern child), and read through my Cnn world news, my BBC africa news, my CSLewis Daily Twitter and saved My Utmost For His Highest blog for last…because it is always a swift spiritual kick in the hind end. And yesterday’s was no exception. I’ve been trying to write about this post for a long time, but ultimately realized, Oswald said it infinitely better and more succinctly than I.
A
missionary 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 high point in my
spiritual stature. The true nature of that life in actual everyday
confusion is evidenced by the deliberate giving up of myself to another
Person through a sovereign decision, and that Person is Jesus Christ.
The Holy Spirit interprets and explains the nature of Jesus to me to
make me one with my Lord, not that I might simply become a trophy for
His showcase. Our Lord never sent any of His disciples out on the basis
of 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.� This does not mean that I
will not be saved, but it does mean that I cannot be entirely His.
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 missionary’s secret is truly being able
to say, “I am His, and He is accomplishing His work and His purposes
through me.�
Be entirely His!
