Isa 41:10 Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. ESV
Is struggling every day with some of the same old things worth it? Is that part of the world you want to hang onto better than being at the head of the line with Jesus? Is fear, anxiety, and worry really that hard to let go of? Can anger and bitterness really be that good to hang onto? These are the things that tell us if Jesus is truly Lord of All in our life.
The only way to become more than conquerors is to totally surrender to Him. Without that we will continue to battle against the enemy in our own power and strength, which we all know is a losing proposition. We need to start out and end the day at the same place … Standing with Jesus at the head of the line. Anything else is simply just second best.
There was a saying hanging in the ready room when I went through Top Gun all those years ago that I have never forgotten. We passed by it every time we went out to do what we had been instructed to do. It summed up air-to-air combat in five simple words: No Points for Second Place. If you didn’t “do” what you were taught you were going to lose, and to lose in combat meant not coming home.
We need to have that kind of attitude where our walk with Jesus is concerned. He hasn’t given us the Word of God to live by without reason. Nor has He given us the Holy Spirit to lead us without purpose. Our spiritual growth, our life as a child of God depends upon our obedience. We need to follow Him every day and trust Him to reveal that part of His will we require to get us through the day. If we will listen and be obedient to what the Holy Spirit is telling us we can be assured that He will keep us at the head of the line.
We are more important to God than we can ever imagine and our walk through this world together with Him is His number one priority for each of us … His perfect will. Paul Little summed it up for us …
The will of God is not like a magic package let down from heaven by a string. The will of God is far more like a scroll that unrolls every day. The will of God is something to be discerned and to be lived out every day of our lives. It is not something to be grasped as a package once and for all. Our call, therefore, is basically not to follow a plan or a blueprint, or to go to a place or take up a work, but rather to follow the Lord Jesus Christ.
Our walk with Jesus demands our full attention and obedience if we are going to be in His perfect will. And that is a day by day, moment by moment challenge. Today we are being attacked by the enemy on all sides as never before and the only way to victory is to be at the head of the line because There Are No Points for Second Place.