Recently, I learnt that it is possible for one to believe Jesus as their saviour but refuse to accept Him as their Lord. What does it mean to accept Jesus as your Lord? It means to surrender, to let His will formulate your will. It means to be submitted to Him.

When the bible speaks of marriage, it relates it to Christ and the church. As the wife ought to submit to her husband, we, the church must submit to Jesus (Ephesians 5:22-24). That is what making Him your Lord is all about.

It’s very much possible to have been saved (to believe and accept Jesus as your saviour), to speak in tongues and yet still not have Jesus as your Lord. I’m not talking of situations when a person is not yet born again, I’m referring to those who are already born again who don’t let God in on their decisions; at that point, you are the captain of your ship, the lord of your own life. Samson for example, was not submissive to God’s will for Him. Through His parents, God had warned him not to marry a woman from a certain region but in his own ‘wisdom’ he went ahead with his own plan. Eventually, the woman ended up conniving with his enemies to get him killed. Up until his point of death, he was still communicating with God and God granted his desire but it was never in God’s will that Samson die that way (Judges chapters 14-16). Assuming he took God as his Lord, submitting to God’s perfect will for him, he wouldn’t have had such a sad ending. That you still hear from God does not necessarily mean you’re submitted to Him.

God has given every person on earth something called free-will. He would never force you to make any decision whatsoever and that includes making Him the Master of your life. However, every decision has a consequence. You cannot call Jesus the Lord of your life, if you do not submit to His will. Till He has the final say in your life, He is not yet your Lord.

As mentioned above, God leaves us to our choices but He would always advise us on which choice is best to make (Deuteronomy 30:19). God wants us to make Him our Lord because in so doing, we would not hurt ourselves. Sometimes, it feels like God is doing the exact opposite what He promised us and so we want to carry on with our own plan, partly because we don’t trust Him enough and partly because we feel that’s the next best step to take. However, when we trust His process and plans, we realise that His will is the best after all. Jesus said “you don’t understand what I’m doing now but someday, you will” (John 13:7). Do not trust your brain to figure it out, it can barely predict what could happen in the next few minutes. Trust the One who sees all and knows all. Trust Him with your life; because to trust Him with your life is to make Him Lord of your life.

Don’t just make decisions based on what you feel is right. There is a reason why the veil in the holies of holies was torn; for direct communication between God and man (Matthew 27:51; Hebrews 10:19-22). Use this privilege to talk to God, pray. Pass your decisions and suggestions through Him. More especially, submit to His own plan for you. Let God have the final say. We sing songs telling the devil that Jesus has the final say in our lives but do we ourselves let Him have that final say? Ask yourself, is Jesus my Lord as much as He is my saviour? When you make Jesus your Lord, rather than having the need to call on Him to save you from the mess you got yourself into, He’d save you from the mess you’re about to get yourself into, that’s the difference. Read that again. Israel often recognised God as their saviour but found it difficult to make Him their Lord and so they’d stray sometimes but come back crying to God when their self-influenced decisions backfire. That’s the exact thing Christians of today also do. We stray because Christ Jesus is yet to be Lord over our lives.

Don’t make self-influenced decisions, make God-influenced decisions. Don’t just let Jesus be your saviour, make Him your Lord as well.

Note: if you would like to acknowledge and receive Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, please say this prayer: “Dear Lord, I thank you for your forgiveness that blots away all my past mistakes and sins, which I receive today. I accept you as my saviour and declare you my Lord from now on. Help me live a life submitted to you, in Jesus’ name. Amen.”