Worship is Submission...uh-oh! The "S" word!

I'm American. It's in my national, cultural DNA to rebel against this dirty word. The "S" word. Dare I speak it? SUBMISSION! Oh how we hate that word! Especially as a woman, I have this engrained inner diva in my spirit that, with hands on my hips, highly wants to refuse to acknowledge this word. I'm American. Ain't nobody gonna tell ME what to do or how to do it. Nope. 

The truth? You are not a worshiper of Jesus without submission. Without submission, you are a worshiper of self. You have so placed yourself higher than God, expecting God to bow His ways and thoughts to yours. This is our culture. And sadly, this is growing in the Western church culture. Without submission, we can simply scroll through the Bible and pick out the verses we like or agree with and throw out the ones we don't like. Submission is the right approach to God's Word...even the verses we don't like, we don't understand, we don't agree with, or that we deem only to be "culturally relevant to the people living at that time." God's Word stands as truth no matter how your finite brain decides to react to it and as followers of Jesus, to refuse to follow parts of His Word for any reason is stubborn rebellion. 

There is nothing more beautiful...anywhere, in any realm...than the submitted Jesus. Nothing convicts my heart faster than Jesus lowering Himself here on earth to touch the untouchable, to restore the sinner to the Father. Nothing convicts my heart faster than reading the words of how Jesus, All-Powerful fully God Jesus obeys every whim of His Father, even unto death. Nothing convicts and points out my stubborn pride faster than Jesus, grabbing a towel bowing down to wash His disciples' feet, even the one who He knew would betray Him that very night. The more I study Him, watch Him, listen for Him, stay still before Him the more I realize as a Jesus follower I no longer have any rights. I've given up. My right to comfort? Gone. My right to decide my identity? Gone. My right to fight because I'm right? Gone. 

And yet, as I read and reread these outrageous stories of Jesus in the Gospels, they become a mirror to my heart and spirit. I still have too much stubborn rebellion in me. I still have too many parts in me that want things my way, that want to justify my disobedience because surely God can't possibly be so harsh as to ask me to do _________________________.  I live in the New Covenant, right? Isn't that where grace rules and God's okay with me? "Taking up my cross daily" is just a religious cliche, right? 

“The same sun which melts wax hardens clay. And the same Gospel which melts some persons to repentance hardens others in their sins.” -Charles Spurgeon

"The workings and dealings of God have everything to do with our heart posture. We are the ones who choose how we will respond to the situations we face in life. Every moment is a fresh opportunity for surrender." ~Bill Johnson

Worship that glorifies God begins with submission and obedience. It begins with the heart stance that is willing to be bent, twisted, reshaped and remolded by God. It's the picture of Isaac willingly climbing up on the altar of sacrifice knowing full well that what his father was asking him to do did not fit what he knew of God.

What obedience is God currently pricking your heart to? To what stubborn pride is His tender, quiet voice speaking to? I know mine and I know submission is hard. But hard is no excuse to ignore His whispers, His calling to a greater level of obedience. Will you (and I) be submissively melted by Him or rebelliously hardened?

Today is the day to worship. Today is the day to obey. Today is the day to submit, just as our beautiful Jesus did.