“Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.’” (Matthew 16:24-25 NKJV)
Many people find Jesus pretty handy to have in the passenger’s seat when they require His services -- such as dealing with health problems, work issues, anxiety, grief, death, etc.
But these people are not sure they want Jesus driving, because if Jesus is behind the wheel, they are not in control anymore. If He is driving, they are not in charge of their wallet anymore. They no longer can say, “I’ll give sometimes when I feel generous, but I reserve the right to keep what I want.” Now it is Jesus’ money.
When I let Jesus drive, I am no longer in charge of my ego. I no longer have the right to satisfy every self-centered ambition. Now it is His life. I am not in charge of my mouth anymore. I don’t get to gossip, flatter, cajole, condemn, lie, curse, rage, cheat, intimidate, manipulate, exaggerate, or prevaricate anymore. Now it is not my mouth -- it is His mouth.
I get out of the driver’s seat. I hand over the keys to Jesus. I am fully engaged in life. In fact, I am more alive than ever before. But it is not my life anymore. It is His life.
-- Adapted from John Ortberg in “The Me I Want to Be: Becoming God’s Best Version of You”
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