Have you ever considered that your struggle with God’s command to submit your life to Him might be caused by the wedge sin drives between our heart and God’s? If so, then I pray we can find comfort in knowing we all struggle with this same issue. It is especially hard for us as Americans because we are rewarded by our society if we are strong independent thinkers. From the time we are about two years old forward we don’t want to be told what to do. We pride ourselves in our desire to be our own boss.

But that isn’t what God wants for us and at times we struggle because Jesus confronts us with the danger of us professing to be living as His friends when our actions tell others we are friends with the world as our worldliness and our sinful desires to engage in behaviors that are offensive to God.

As we turn to our Biblical texts today, we will compare the lives of two military commanders who are in desperate need of having Jesus intervene in their lives. Both are men of high esteem, who direct armies, who are known by many as strong leaders. Yet, one fully submitted his will and life to Jesus as he acknowledged Jesus’ ability to heal his servant and the other man – Naaman – fought God’s plan for Naaman’s healing. When God told Naaman what he would have to do to be healed Naaman rejected God’s word and spitefully walked away. However, when one of his servants convinced Naaman to humble himself before God and submit to God’s will Naaman was miraculously healed.

That is so often the case with us. We pray asking for God’s will to be done and yet when the Holy Spirit tells us what God’s plan is, we rebel and reject what we are told to do. If you are struggling with submitting any area of your life to Jesus, if you think you need to get yourself as fit as possible to be worthy of submitting to Jesus, then please hear me when I tell you that all the fitness God requires of you is to acknowledge your need of Him. For in our struggle, the Holy Spirit comes to remind us that God loves us so much that even in times when we chose to be friends with the world instead of Him, He gives us grace upon grace so we are able to turn our hearts toward Jesus and submit our will to His. So, pray for the Holy Spirit to open your ears so your heart can surrender and submit to Jesus who calls us to draws near to His heart.