You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you are right in doing so, for that is who I am. John 13:13
Our Lord never insists His authority over us. He never demands submission. He will always give you the right to choose. How do I know? He allowed others to spit in His face, call Him the son of the devil, and even crucify Him — and He didn’t say a word in defiance. It is our choice to humble ourselves before Him. Once His redemption fills our souls we know He has every right of absolute authority over us. We then know that He is worthy of all praise and glory and that He is Lord. It is simply our unworthiness still within us that refuses to bow down or to submit to someone worthy. When we meet someone who is more ‘holy’ than we are and we don’t recognize their worthiness, or listen to their words, it is a sign to us of our unworthiness. God let’s us know that He is using these people who are a little better than we are; not intellectually, but more ‘holy’. And He will continue to bring individuals like this to us until we learn to willingly submit. Then we will learn that the whole of our attitude of our life needs to be one of obedience to the Holy Spirit and to Jesus our Lord.
If Jesus insisted on our obedience then He would just be a taskmaster and cease to have any real authority. Because He never insists on obedience we can truly see Him and will instantly obey Him. Do you have the spiritual sight to see Him? If so …then He then easily becomes the Lord of our lives and we begin to live our lives in adoration of Him all day and all night. It is the revelation of His grace within us and our spiritual growth that will cause us to have a much higher view of obedience… rescuing the concept from the mire of the world’s definition that we once knew. Real obedience is only possible between people who recognize that they are equals in the sight of God. This relationship is like between a father and son, not that of one between a master and servant. Jesus displayed and showed this relationship by saying, “I and My Father are One” (John 10:30). “…. though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered” (Hebrews 5:8). The Son was obedient as our Redeemer, because He was the Son, not in order to become God’s Son.
Who really is your Teacher? Is the Holy Spirit having you dive deep into spiritual concepts and giving you a passion for conversational prayer with Him? He wants to teach us and help us grow in Him. Are you able to submit to His instructions when He asks you to step our of your comfort zone?
Father we submit to you today… what would you have us do? Speak to us Holy Spirit.