Under Orders
- Christian discipline means placing oneself under orders.
- The disciple is one who has made a very simple decision. Jesus invites us to follow Him, and the disciple accepts the invitation. I do not say it is an easy decision, and I have found that it needs to be renewed daily. The conditions are not such as to attract multitudes. Jesus stated them: He must leave self behind, He must take up his cross, and come with me. The result of the decision is guaranteed: whoever cares for his own safety is lost, but if a man will let himself be lost for my sake, he will find his true self.
Any “soldier,” and candidate for Christian discipline, ought daily to report to his commanding officer for duty. At your service, Lord. What the soldier does for the officer is not in the category of a favor. The officer may ask anything. He disposes of the soldier as he chooses.
Elisabeth Elliot | Joyful Surrender
- The very reason Christ died “was that men, while still in life, should cease to live for themselves, and should live for him who for their sake died and was raised to life.”
- To be a Christian in New Testament terms is to be a disciple.
- We have a Savior who has forgiven and saved us from the penalty of sin. Most of us would happily settle for that. But He died to save us also from our sins, many of which we love and hate to part with. Christ could not have done this if He were not Lord over all the powers of evil. Jesus Christ is Savior because He is Lord. He is Lord because He is Savior.
- I cannot be saved from my sins unless I am also saved from myself, so Christ must be “commanding officer” in my life.