Luke 9:20

For Reading and Meditation:     Luke 9:18-27

Suppose a tiny seed had a will of its own and decided to save itself by refusing to be buried. It would abide alone. It would save itself but would not save others. When it decided to be buried and die, then the result would be a golden harvest. Take a mother: she goes down into the valley of the shadow of death to bring...

Sometimes I think we talk and sing too glibly about the Lordship of Christ, about total commitment, and about absolute surrender. We parrot neat little cliches like, "If He's not Lord of all, then He's not Lord at all." We sing, "All to Jesus I surrender, all to Him I freely give." We act as if total commitment involved little more than attending church every Sunday.

It isn't that we are insincere; it's just that we don't realize all that's involved. If we acknowledge the Lordship of...