Immaculee Ilibagiza, the Rwandan woman who forgave those who slaughtered her family, Corrie ten Boom, the Dutch Holocaust survivor who forgave the Nazis that killed her loved ones, and Elisabeth Elliot, the American missionary who forgave the Auca tribesmen who murdered her husband and four others in Ecuador, are not the only Christians called to radical obedience. Each of these ladies would say God’s grace empowered them to say ‘yes’ to the One who also forgave his enemies. “Christ in us, the hope of glory”… allows us to do what seems impossible. Our part is to say, “Yes, Lord,” yet often in the less-spectacular, day-to-day opportunities, we resist our Teacher. To forgive, serve, and love our neighbor, our fellow worker, or our spouse does not sound too hard, yet…
The problem with following Jesus is that he wants to consume every area of life: family, friends, enemies, finances, entertainment, work, home, mind, heart, body… You can’t truly be a disciple and limit God to a couple of hours of church per week. “King,” “Lord,” and “Master” are titles that give Christ all authority and his words bring us to places of decision. “Unless you deny yourself…” “Unless you pick up your cross daily…” “Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood…” “Unless you let me wash you…” “Unless you change and become like little children…” Fill in the blanks to find the cost of discipleship and notice that Jesus never apologizes for his requirements.
The amazing truth is that obedience results in the victorious, abundant life Jesus promises. The disturbing truth is that when we refuse to obey, we not only quench his life in us, we hinder the work of God in others. Had Immaculee, and scores like her, not forgiven their enemies, the whole nation of Rwanda would be different today… different in a very disastrous way. If Corrie ten Boom had not forgiven her captors, God would not have been able to use this “tramp for the Lord” so powerfully to travel the world proclaiming “there is no place so dark that God’s light cannot shine.” Had not Elisabeth Elliot forgiven and returned with her young daughter, Valerie, to the very savages that killed her husband, the world may never have heard the wise words Jim truly believed: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”
God used these yielding believers to bring souls into his Kingdom.
Unless we say ‘yes’ when Jesus directs, we cannot fully know his mysterious ways or his marvelous power. “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!” May we yield totally as he builds!
“Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain.” Psalm 127:1
Luke 9:23; John 6:53; John 13:8; Matthew 18:3