Am I willing? - - - Significance

The Lord has given me life and not the life that the world knows but He has given to me His life. Jesus says to each and everyone of us to "come unto Me" (Mat 11:28) for He says that He alone is life (John 14:6) and He desires to give Himself unto you abundantly (John 10:10) so the question arises - Am I willing to come to Him for life or do I want to hold onto my "so-called" right to guide my own life?

Do I want to come to Him for life? The answer is a resounding YES! But that is not the essence of the question...the question must be addressed as "Are you willing?" From a intellectual level the answer is easy but as we might see how that would radically change our lives the question is much more profound.

As the Lord has worked in my life, let me give you a couple of questions just on the point of significance. Most of us receive a feeling of significance from the worlds system and from one another. Christ came to do away with that and to "crucify us to the world" (Gal 6:14) yet our body and souls have become so accustomed to living off the world and others that it has become a de facto frame of reference. Am I willing daily to (Luk 9:23):

• Die to the love of human praise...looking for a compliment, a secret fondness to be noticed, a drawing attention to self in conversation, a desire to be noticed because of my intellect, my clothing, my new __________
• Die to any sense of pride... an exalted feeling in view of success or position, pride because of the intellect and/or appearance, because of natural (God given) gifts and abilities, to the rights of your opinion being exalted (even if it is correct)
• Die to any self will...a sense of "I have the right to run my life", an unyielding headstrong disposition, a disposition to pick flaws especially when set aside and unnoticed

Also, Am I willing to Live totally off of Christ as He did off the Father (John 17:21)

• Am I willing to live despised and forsaken by men (Isa 53:3)
• Am I willing to have no place to lay my head (Mat 8:20)
• Am I willing to be hated to the point of men desiring to kill me (John 8:59)
• Am I willing to miss lunch to bring the gospel to the woman at the well (John 4)
• Am I willing to have even my closest friends and family reject me for His sake (Luk 14:26)
• Am I willing to stand in the gap and intercede (Num 14:19) even when people are cursing me and God

If I am not willing to live like Jesus then somewhere within my heart I am saying that I deserve better then my Saviour! Oh that we would be willing to allow the Holy Spirit to open our hearts and allow us to see ourselves in light of the Holiness of God and the wickedness of man.