Fear No Fear

“He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”” (Matthew 16:15, MEV). God loves us enough to let us choose how we relate to Him. We don’t HAVE to choose God. We don’t HAVE to choose a relationship with Him. It doesn’t HAVE to be a close one. We can do the bare minimum. We can miss the invitation to get closer, move in deeper, and have all that is being offered. It is entirely up to us. It is OUR choice. We get to choose who we say He is. He can be our Lord. He can be our Saviour. He can be our friend. He can be the Son of God. Or He could be all of them. He can be put in the place He deserves to occupy. We can choose to humbly submit to Him. And we can make that choice every day, all day long. It is up to us. Who we say He is greatly affects how we function. If He is our Lord, we’re going to be checking in with Him all the time. Checking to see what His point of view is. Listening to see if we have specific instructions. Asking how He wants us to approach something. It will be a very interactive relationship because we will actively be trying to make ourselves align with Him. Every day we’ll get more and more like Him as we rely on Him more and more every day. On the other hand, we could choose to only see Him as Saviour. The One who got us through the door. The One who brought us into the Kingdom. We could leave it there. Do our own thing while nominally thankful for the save. We could also see Him only as a friend, not a king who is also a friend, but more of a buddy. Someone here to share the good times. Without acknowledging the deeper truth that we are able to be friends with our Lord and Saviour. Without acknowledging that there is a LOT more to the relationship than happy feelings. Who we say Jesus is has enormous implications for our lives. Both in the lived in here-and-now as well as the future life with Him. Jesus is our friend, but He also saved us. Jesus saved us, but He is also Lord. Jesus is God, the Son of God, and the highest authority. He is all those things. And in Him, we share in some of it. But we need to remember who He is and put Him in His place every day. We need to find out who He is through the Word and submit to what we find there. Jesus is here for the happy feelings. He’s also here to correct and command. Not suggest, command. There is authority there. He is a friend, but He is our KING. We need to submit to Him, listen to Him, and obey Him. Let Him be all that He is, so that we can be all that He says that we are. To KNOW Him like He knows us. It’s a privilege and one we need to lean into daily.