Brokeness

"Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you."  James 4:7-8  NKJV 

If you want to see God's face and enjoy His many blessings, we must be broken first.

Picture if you will a wild stallion. It may look beautiful as you glance at it but, try to either get near it or ride it and you will not be its best friend. You see, it wants its independence. It doesn't want to be ridden or have to submit to anyone. As long as it is fed and given water to drink and a warm place to settle when bad weather comes, this is all it wants from a human.

However, a thoroughbred cowboy has the knowledge to handle such an animal. His intention is breaking this fine animal so that it can be ridden and earn its keep. So he will approach it even though it may kick and snort at him to back off. He may use a rope to throw round its neck so that he can pull it over to him and tie it to a sturdy fence while he attempts to calm it down. Eventually, the cowboy gets on its back and, even though it bucks and tries to throw him off, he perseveres and towards the end of this process, he is able to ride the horse until it is satisfied that it won't be hurt. What the cowboy is dealing with is, a stubborn and wild independence. The horse wants to keep this and will fight this yet, after a time it usually realises that it must submit and come under someone else's control.

Does this sound familiar? Many of us want God to bless us with good things but we don't want to be brought into submission. We want to keep our independence and we want to live our lives, our way. We don't want to be subject to rules and regulations; we'll go to church and blend in with others but, that's about it. I'm gong to say this and it may sound shocking to some Christians; God is not that bothered if we go to church or not. He is more interested that we submit to Him and draw near to Him so that He can draw near to us as well. The rest will follow.

The brokenness that God requires is, the brokenness that the stallion has to learn - total submission to its leader. Our leader is Jesus. He is loving and kind but, He will not bless double values. We either belong to and serve Jesus or we don't. We can't keep one foot in the world and one in the kingdom of God. Yes we live in the world but, we are not part of it. We belong to Jesus and we have a mission to serve Him until He calls us home.

Being stubborn is something God can change if, you allow Him to. This is where submission begins. Notice that you draw near to God and He will draw near to you. This is where the fine tuning can begin. It may take a long time though. Are you willing to submit? 

If you don't know Jesus or, have fallen away, why not say this prayer right now:

'Lord Jesus, I have sinned and I ask you to forgive me and be my Lord and Saviour. Please come into my heart, fill me with Your Spirit and give me a brand new start today.

In Jesus' Name. Amen'

Copyright 2024 Grahame Howard.                                

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com  

If you would like to contact me, grahame.howard@hotmail.co.uk

Member of the National Association of Christian Ministers

Why not order my Daily Commentary from Amazon - Paperback or Kindle 

Check it out