Stop Asking and Start Putting

Looking back upon my earliest years as a new Christian believer, I can’t begin to count the number of times I raised my hand to receive Christ when given the opportunity after a compelling message. Over and over again, I wanted to be sure… beyond a shadow of doubt that I was saved! If there was a way to put on the belt and suspenders of Salvation… I might well have adorned one in every fashionable color.

As I grew in my knowledge of the LORD and thereby my relationship with Him, I realized my Salvation was secure from the first moment I confessed that I was a sinner in need of a Savior. That God’s plan for my eternal salvation had been fully satisfied by the sending of His Son, Christ Jesus to take my sins upon Himself, willingly sacrificed His life for mine on the cross, died for me, was raised from the grave and ascended back to heaven where He is seated upon His throne! Upon my confession, instantaneously the Holy Spirit put His seal upon my soul… I’m God’s property! Saved, Sanctified, and Justified!

So, what was my problem for so many years? What was I missing? What part of my theological understanding was lacking in apprehending the absolute truth of God’s Word regarding the security of my salvation? Why did I feel the need to keep asking Christ to come into my life?

The answer is this: The questionable absence I was wrestling with had nothing to do with my soul and everything to do with my heart. I never once considered, that Christ’s rightful place in my life is to be seated upon the throne of my heart. I was so busy living for myself that I only gave Christ a small space for dwelling within me, and only, after all the places of self, had been filled. No wonder I was so confused, so desperate to have multiple layers of belts and suspenders of salvation worn upon my being. No wonder I was so preoccupied with asking Christ into my life, instead of putting Christ where He could reign in my life.

1 Peter 3:15  “But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy…”

To honor Christ the Lord as holy, means to have Him set apart above everything else in our lives. It means for Him to have preeminence in our aspirations and adoration. In our lives, we either treat Christ Jesus as a visiting guest, or as Lord and king who dwells upon the throne.

Galatians 2:20  “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Lord, may my heart always be occupied with You being seated upon the throne. I ask that the Holy Spirit would convict me, each and every time I try to move You from Your rightful place. Never permit me to become self-willed or self-centered… For my hearts desire is for Your will to be done in and through me, while You sit upon the throne at the center of my heart and total being. Amen!