Journey's Narrow Door

 “Above all else, guard your heart,
    for everything you do flows from it.”  Proverbs 4:23 (NIV)

What great wisdom from Proverbs chapter 4 and all of Proverbs and the entire Bible.  Please take time to read your Bible.  Spend time with the GOD of all Creation.  But, don’t just read your Bible.  As GOD tells us in James 1:22-25:

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. ²³ Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror ²⁴ and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. ²⁵ But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.  (NIV)

How do I become a doer of the Word?  Surrender. Actively seeking my LORD Master’s will over my own will.  For me, surrender is submitting to the will of my LORD Master even when I don’t understand and is highly inconvenient to obey His commands.   Surrender is a willing attitude of my heart toward my LORD Master and not toward my selfish self-dog.  You see, my heart attitude drives my willingness and ability to hear my LORD Master’s voice and follow His commands.

My heart attitude makes all the difference in being able to hear and obey my LORD Master.  If I am in my self-dog mode, then my heart attitude is selfish and unwilling to hear and obey what GOD has for me. Self-dog never wants to be inconvenienced. Never.

Self-dog always wants to be in control of things.  When events or other circumstances change self-dog’s plans, control is lost and unpleasant side effects start to happen.  Self-dog is not open to having others or anything changing her plans.  Selfishness drives self-dog’s decisions, actions and attitudes.

When I am in self-dog mode, my heart attitude is closed to hearing from the LORD Master.  I can’t hear anything but my own voice echoing its selfish commands.  I miss my LORD Master’s voice and the wonderful work He has for me today.

In self-dog mode, I miss out on continuing fellowship and closeness of my LORD Master.   He ceases to become LORD Master to me when I am in self-dog mode.  I cannot be obedient to two masters.  I have to choose one.  When I choose my self-dog, I am choosing to turn from Jesus and serve myself.  When I choose Jesus, I choose to turn to Him and serve Him alone.  I cannot have both.

I have to actively guard my heart, keeping my eyes focus on my LORD Master and not on my self-dog. Surrendering to Jesus as LORD Master means that I put to death my self-dog.  I commit my life to Jesus as His bondservant.  Oswald Chambers defines a bondservant this way using Galatians 2:20:

“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me…

                                                                                                                                        Galatians 2:20

These words mean the breaking and collapse of my independence brought about by my own hands, and the surrendering of my life to the supremacy of the Lord Jesus…It means breaking the hard outer layer of my individual independence from God, and the liberating of myself and my nature into oneness with Him; not following my own ideas, but choosing absolute loyalty to Jesus.”   November 13, 2017, “A Bondservant of Jesus,”  My Utmost for His Highest Devotional

To call Jesus LORD Master means that my life is now His. As Oswald states above “the liberating of myself and my nature into oneness with Him; not following my own ideas, but choosing absolute loyalty to Jesus.   I belong to Him. I have chosen Him as master. I have chosen to serve Him alone.  I am a bondservant to Him, freely choosing Him as my life instead of my self-dog.

If I state I love Jesus and believe that He is the Word and the Word is GOD, then His commands to me are not to be followed arbitrarily.  I cannot simply choose which commands to follow and which to ignore.

If I am to follow Jesus and call Him my LORD Master, I must truly become His bondservant. I must surrender my will to Him.  I must guard my heart so that my heart attitude stays in line with my LORD Master’s will. I must become totally dependent on Him and His will for my life.  I must trust Him. I must actively look up to Him.

The choice is always mine.  I must ask myself, is my heart attitude toward my LORD Master or my self-dog?  Am I guarding my heart and seeking GOD?  Am I being humble and submitting myself to the will of my LORD Master as His bondservant?

LORD Master, so much in this world that distracts and deceives.  LORD, help me to keep my focus on You alone.  Help me to continue to seek You and Your will first.  Help me to be still before You so I can hear Your sweet voice.  Help me to be obedient to Your will for me.  Help me to live “my” life as your bondservant, with a heart attitude of humility and willingness to do Your will and not my own.

Thank you LORD Master! 

Amen