“Take the Name of Jesus with you,
Child of sorrow and of woe,
It will joy and comfort give you;
Take it then, where’er you go.
Refrain:
Precious Name, oh, how sweet!
Hope of earth and joy of Heav’n;
Precious Name, oh, how sweet!
Hope of earth and joy of Heav’n.” Lydia O. Baxter, 1870

While some may take the phrase lightly when someone says “Jesus is Lord”, those of us who are born again Christians choose to believe the truth behind the words.

The reality is, some who say those words don’t always live like they believe it. We might say that Jesus is Lord yet we live our lives as if we are in charge. If God is Sovereign, and I believe that He is, then based on the authority and authenticity of His Word, I have a choice. I must decide every single moment of my day whether or not I will choose to live, act and talk in such a way that my life demonstrates this truth.

And I often fall short.

Making Jesus Lord is so much more than saying we believe in Him. Many would admit that they believe the facts about God, and they believe that Jesus really did live, die and rise from the dead. They even celebrate those occasions at Christmas and on Easter. While these facts about Him have been proven historically, archaeologically and Biblically, so many miss the purpose behind His story: God intended for us to know Him, not just the facts about Him. You can know about someone without really knowing them.

–Lord, the Supreme Being; God.

—su·preme be·ing

noun
(in many belief systems) the eternal, infinite spirit, mind, or other transcendent entity that is the creator or ultimate source of the universe and that rules or orders it. higher power. [dictionary.com]

He is Lord over all of it, but surrendering to His lordship is what proves that we are truly followers of Jesus.

For this reason God highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus
every knee will bow—
in heaven and on earth
and under the earth— and every tongue will confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:9-11

On a recent trip to Panama I encountered a young man waiting outside of a hospital where I had been visiting with and praying for people whose loved ones were hospitalized. My conversation with him quickly turned to the reason I was in Panama. I shared my story with him and that because I had surrendered my life to Jesus, God had led me to Panama to tell others about Him. As I shared with him the significance of those special holidays, I went on to explain that those events we celebrate are not the end of the story! Jesus rose from the dead, conquering sin and death on our behalf, and appeared to the apostles as well as over 500 men and women before returning to heaven. (1 Corinthians 15) “Asking Jesus to save me and be the Lord of my life changed everything!”

“Has anything like that ever happened to you?” I asked. “No.” he replied with a curious look in his eye, so my natural response was, “would you like for it to? Do you want to surrender to Jesus today and place your life in His hands?”–and he said, “YES!” This young adult man who had served in the military had no doubt about what the word “surrender” would mean, and that very day chose to surrender His life to Jesus. To make him Lord. Right there on the city streets of Panama City, Panama!

If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, Everyone who believes on him will not be put to shame, since there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, because the same Lord of all richly blesses all who call on him. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Romans 10:9-13

I will never get over how amazing God is, that He would send an Illinois girl–one whose only credentials were a willing heart and a life-giving message to tell–to a far off place that I’d never been, but right in the path of a total stranger who was ready to hear the good news of Jesus and surrender to Him.

Making Jesus Lord changes everything. It changes the trajectory of your life and your eternity.

My country is a democracy and so we get to choose our president. Two imperfect candidates with two very differing opinions. Their values and beliefs and convictions will shape the future of our nation. The choice will be made and the stakes will be high–not just for our children and grandchildren, but the innocent lives of so many unborn children. The fact that God allows us to make choices does not negate His sovereignty. He knows. He sees. He alone is the righteous judge, and although our choices have consequences– He is SOVEREIGN, and one day will rule over all.

For now–we pray. We wait. And we vote knowing that in the end,

“Take the name of Jesus with you”