46 “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say? Luke 6:46 NKJV
Knowing Christ as Saviour and knowing Him as Lord are two different things. To acknowledge him as Lord means that he is the master and ruler of your life. He cannot be Lord of a part of your life, as it is said, He is either Lord of all or not Lord at all.
A story is told of Dr. Graham Scroggie who was speaking at the Keswick Convention in England on one occasion when he was approached by a young woman who had been greatly stirred by his message on the Lordship of Christ. Walking up to him at the close of the service, she said, “I want Jesus to be Lord of my life, but I am afraid God will send me overseas as a missionary, and I don’t want to go.”
Opening the Bible to Acts 10:14, Dr. Scroggie explained the utter absurdity of Peter’s answer. You will remember that God had given Peter a vision of a sheet in which were all manner of four-footed animals, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. And a voice came to him, “Rise Peter, kill and eat.” But Peter answered, “Not so, Lord.”
Dr. Scroggie went on to explain, “A slave never dictates to a master. Therefore, to say ‘Not so, Lord’ was impertinent!” “Now,” advised Dr. Scroggie, “I want you to cross out the two words ‘not so’ and leave the word ‘Lord’, or else cross out the word ‘Lord’ and leave ‘not so’.” Handing her his pencil, he quietly walked away.
For some time, she struggled. Then he returned. Looking over her shoulder, he saw a tear-stained page. The words “not so” were crossed out. With a glad light in her eyes, she repeated affirmatively, “Lord!” “Lord!” “Lord!” No longer would she dictate. She was now His disciple, and He was her Lord and Master (Dr. Stephen Olford, The Way of Holiness (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1998), 82-83.)
You may be wondering, what has Lordship got to do with making Godly decisions? Well, everything. When Jesus is Lord over your life, then you make decisions based on what he says in his word and not how you feel or the surrounding circumstances.
