A Divine Submission

I have noticed sometimes, when I have put all of my mental energy into thinking about God or all of my physical energy into doing something for God, that I have accomplished little to nothing as far as the Kingdom of God is concerned. Recently, as I looked over some familiar scriptures, I began to see a Divine Order that explained why.”

(Mark 12:28-31) One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.

The first thing I noticed is that The Lord is one. He is completely unified in purpose and direction. When He does something, that action involves all of Him. He doesn’t reserve part of Himself just in case it doesn’t work out. He is one in intent and action. This example is one that we need to copy, but there is more to it than that.

Secondly, with the recent revelation of submitting the soul to the spirit, I was more enabled to see that there is a progression of heart, soul, mind and strength. The first of these is the heart or spirit of a person being submitted to God. Next the soul of a person submits to their own spirit which has already submitted to God. Next the mind submits to the soul which is submitted to the spirit which is submitted to God. Finally the strength submits to the mind which is submitted to the soul which is submitted to the spirit which is submitted to God.

We can probably all think of personal examples where one of these aspects came out from under submission. The soul-centered Christian can scare away many non-believers with any number of soul-based actions. The mind-centered Christian, when not in proper submission, can disregard anything it cannot prove, which in most cases eliminates anything faith-based. A Christian who depends on his own strength, like the tower of Babel, will usually find their plans scattered.

Finally I noticed “Love your neighbor as yourself”. After seeing the oneness of God and submitting our hearts, souls, minds and strengths properly to His will; we can minister to others.