Recently I watched Dr. Jordan Peterson interview John Rich, who is a country singer/songwriter. John was explaining about his relationship with God. He wanted Dr. Peterson to understand the need and intent of repentance, so he used what I thought was an excellent, simple analogy, as follows.
Imagine you are driving down the road and you see Jesus standing on the side of the road. You stop to offer Jesus a ride. You expect Him to get in on the passenger side of the car, but He walks around to the driver’s side. He opens the door and tells you to scoot over to the passenger side, then He gets behind the wheel. Jesus puts the car in gear, then executes a U-turn. He drives back down the road. Soon He makes a turn onto a different road; one you had passed by when you were driving.
I still cannot get over the elegance of this analogy. So simple, and yet so much significance packed into it.
I know I have been guilty of considering – and treating – Jesus as a passenger in ‘my life.’ I just have Him along for the ride, while I remain in control. Or so I think.
To truly surrender; to give Him control; let Him drive; take me where He intends for me to go!
I must let go of my fear and pride. I must make – or let Him make – the big U-turn. I must let Him take me down the ways He has planned for me.
“Then Yeshua said to His disciples, ‘If anyone wants to follow after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world but forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?’” Matthew 16:24-26
Ed Boring
BYNA Elder
