October 8 I Tuesday

Isaiah 30-31

Philippians 4

“For this reason He had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that He might make atonement for the sins of the people.” —Hebrews 2:17

When the Lord Jesus Christ became a man, He became a real man. He was not God disguised as a man but stepped down from being an owner to become a tenant here on earth. Jesus tells us, “For I have come down
from heaven not to do My will but to do the will of Him who sent me” (John 6:38).

We encounter this truth when Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will” (Matthew 26:39). He prayed a second time saying, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may Your will be done” (Matthew 26:42). When comparing these two prayers, the first has a positive ring: “if it is possible,” and the second has a negative ring: “if
it is not possible” but ultimately, it was about accomplishing the Father’s will.

If anybody had the right to be the owner, it was Jesus. He could have called ten thousand angels and simply done His own thing. Yet, Jesus came down from heaven to live as a man, relinquishing His rights to be an owner of His destiny, life, body or will. He lived on earth as a tenant doing the will of the one who sent Him.

It is releasing when we live as tenants and do not fight to be an owner. When we let go and say, “Lord, my body, my life and my future, everything about me, my life, my family, my country and my world, Lord, I surrender it to You. I give it back to You. And I want to live with the knowledge that You are fulfilling Your will and purpose in my life.” It does not mean when we say, “Lord, Your will be done” that everything is going to work out well. When Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, “Your will be done,” the will of God was going to be anguish and suffering of the cross. As we release our lives to the owner, it may involve things we would never chose for ourselves, but out of it God can work wonderful purposes. Just as the purpose for Jesus’s death on the cross was to reconcile God and human being.

Paul tells us, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose”
(Romans 8:28). We can trust God as our owner who works all things for good.

Prayer: Lord God, I relinquish all of myself in surrender to You. I trust in You to work all things for good. May You have Your way with my life. Thank You, Lord.