We sing beautiful songs to our God, telling Him that we surrender ourselves to Him, that He is our King. But on a daily basis, is He really our God or just one source among many others?
It is one of the basic verses when we announce the plan of salvation. “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me” (John 14:6 WEB). We all agree that there is no other way to be saved, no other way to eternal life than through Jesus. Only by acknowledging our fallen state and accepting His sacrifice on the cross as our path forward can we avoid hell. This principle, which applies to salvation, applies to all other areas of our lives! Jesus is not only the Savior for our spirit, He is not only the Lord of our spiritual life, He is for all our being, for all areas of our life.
If we let God rule our spiritual life, but not our finances, love life, or entertainment, we can no longer say that He is our God. Rather, we treat Him as one god among others in our lives. A bit like the Greeks who were evangelized by Paul. “ Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw the city full of idols” (Acts 17:16 WEB). He also used their customs to introduce them to Christ. “For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription: ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ What therefore you worship in ignorance, I announce to you” (Acts 17:23 WEB).
These people lived with several deities. Thus, if they needed help to have children, they appealed to the god of fertility. If they needed help with navigation, they turned to the god of the sea. There was a god for love, war, trade, etc. Several gods could fulfill the same needs, so if prayer to one god was not answered, the Greeks could try with another god. When Paul announced to them that there was only one God, this message was revolutionary. It was even a little worrying for them because if there is only one God, it means there are no other options. If there is only one God, there is no plan B if our prayers are not answered. Coming out of Egypt, the Israelites also faced the same challenge when they received the 10 commandments (Exodus 20).
Today, we no longer really have small statuettes in our homes to which we make sacrifices to obtain favors. But sometimes our heart is still divided. We pray to God to support one of our financial projects, but when He does not give us the money we have asked for, we turn to creditors. We pray to God to find a life partner, and if the result does not appear within a reasonable time, we will seek a partner in all kinds of places that do not glorify our Lord. Of course, we have steps to take, we are co-workers with Christ, but we must take the steps that God tells us to take, and not just pray that God blesses all the plans we make. After all, we are at His service, and not the other way around!
To have God as king of our life is to let go of all our plan Bs. It is also to consult Him for all areas of our life, not just on Sunday mornings.