Wrong Rights

"My Maker is my Friend;

His name is written on my forehead,

My name is engraved on His palm."

So, I am being confronted by this issue of surrender on all sides... in my Bible reading, in random paintings I see, in this week's reading for my classes, even in songs coming from the open window of a church as I walk down the beach. 

It is a process that God has been taking me through for the last several weeks, and the more I surrender, the more my eyes are opened to other areas in my life that need to be surrendered. 

Over the weekend, a new dimension was added to my whole concept of surrendering. I spent Saturday by myself at the beach, soaking up the sun, processing the week's teaching, talking to God, and studying the contrast of the palm trees against the brilliant, vivid blue sky (in-between frequent re-applications of sunscreen...the only part of me that burned was my eyelids). I also read the book assignment for the week, "Making Jesus Lord" by Loren Cunningham (YWAM founder). The central theme of the book is the importance of laying down your rights in order to be able to fully and freely serve God. This goes a step beyond surrendering desires, possessions, etc., to surrendering any rights we feel we have... right to be treated well, right to be happy, right to not be taken advantage of, right to financial security... the list is endless, and, I'm sure, varies from person to person. Human rights are highly emphasized in American society. And I'm not saying it's wrong! One of the reasons I am here is to be able to fight for the "rights" of people being unjustly treated around the world. Holding onto our individual rights is, however, contrary to the principles of God's Kingdom. 

As a sidenote... the whole idea that we have rights is slightly amusing when you take into consideration the "whole scheme of things"...  We live in a universe that is so immense our minds cannot comprehend it--nor our best scientists and longest telescopes calculate its dimensions. The universe and everything in it was set into motion by a Creator who placed every star in the sky, knows the exact number of sparrows in the world, and will ultimately be the judge of every human. We only live because He "breathed the breath of life" into us. Everything we have, we have only because He placed it on this earth. The most powerful political leaders are mere children at play in comparison to His power and His control over the universe. No matter how much control we think we have over our lives, we never know what lies even five minutes ahead; our entire lives can change in a second. For all this, humans can be fairly egotistical and confident in themselves. I think that our demanding of rights is an example of this. 

To be a Christian means to be a "Christ follower". Jesus never asks us to do anything that He didn't do. He was the most selfless individual to ever set foot on earth. He gave up His "right" to a family, a home, a career, financial security, respect, safety, comfort, fair treatment... and ultimately, life (to name a few)! And yet, as well as being human, He was also God. So the God of the universe gave up His "right" to remain in heaven and descended to earth (where he was mocked, persecuted, slandered, and brutally murdered) and then to the depths of hell. As well as giving up His most basic rights, He made the ultimate sacrifice by giving up His life. 

He never asks us to do anything that He didn't do.

As a "Christ follower", I want to follow in His footsteps. There are a lot of aspects to this; learning to live a selfless life and laying down my "rights" is one of them. None of us can ever attain perfection, and that, I believe, is not what it's about anyway. It is a process, a day-by-day striving to be continually more like Christ. 

For me, right now, "striving to be continually more like Christ" is taking the form of learning to surrender everything in my life and lay down my rights. I feel sort of like an onion, with multiple layers that need to be stripped away. These outside layers keep my "core" (spirit) from being able to fully connect with my Creator in the way that He designed. They keep me from being able to live in the fullness of His presence.

And that is what gets me out of bed every morning: a yearning for His presence.