Jesus, "Lord" of my life?

All my life I have heard speakers and ministers call people to a relationship with Jesus. One of the ways that ministers often communicate this relationship is by asking individuals if they want Jesus to be the “Lord” of their life.

There are many times where I have run into what I like to call “church” words. “Church” words are words that are often spoken in our churches that are never actually explained, but words that you are supposed to know. In youth ministry I see this a lot with teenagers because I think they are way better at being honest when they do not understand something. I have learned that ”Lord” is actually one of these “church” words.

I have been calling and leading people to committ to making Jesus the Lord of their life. However, this can be really dangerous if people do not fully understand what that Jesus being the Lord of their life actually looks like. It is like when I committed to helping with a local fundraiser only to learn when I got there that I was going to have be in a dunk tank in low 50 degree weather. We have to know what we are committing to.

I was really struggling with how I could communicate to teenagers what making Jesus the Lord of their life really meant. We do not live in a country or time where Lords are culturally relevant or common. Finally God revealed how to explain Jesus being my Lord to me while I was making Ramen noodles. Get this…Jesus is the strainer of my life. Let me explain:

When you are making noodles a few things are essential: noodles, a pot, boiling water, and a strainer. Now without pretending to be Rachel Ray, you simply cook the noodles in the pot of boiling water. When the noodles are ready, you pour the noodles and water out of the pot into the strainer and your noodles are ready to eat.

Now what/who determines what you actually eat in that process? Do you? Yes, by free will you pick out what you want to eat. You put in the necessary work to prepare the food, but the strainer actually determines what you eat. The moment you pour the water and noodles into the strainer, you are no longer in control. You are trusting the strainer to do its job (separate what you need to eat and what you do not need to eat) and you eat what the strainer determines you should eat.

In the same way when you accept Jesus as your Lord, Jesus becomes the strainer in your life. Everything you do should go through Him. He is the one who decides things for you. Every situation that you are in should go through the strainer of Jesus when you accept Him as your savior. When you do that, Jesus (not you) is the one who decides what you do. How should you parent your child? Put it in the strainer. What boundaries should I have in my dating relationships? Put it in the strainer. How should I treat the guy nobody likes? Put it in the strainer. How should I handle my finances? Put it in the strainer. How do I treat my spouse when we are in a big fight? Put it in the strainer.

Get the point yet? Jesus is a good strainer. When we get serious about dedicating our entire life to Him, our life should look different. That happens by putting our entire life in the strainer of Jesus and let Him determine what is kept and what is taken away. What a beautiful way to live!

After thinking about Lordship this way, I realized that many people have accepted Jesus as their savior, but not their lord. Jesus wants and can handle both jobs.

Is Jesus the strainer of your life?