I was recently reminded, "Jesus wants to be the Lord of our lives, not just a Lord in our lives."
I definitely don't have this down. I was actually just struggling with it the other night. There's just something in us that craves being in control of our lives, choosing our own paths, making our own decisions. My prayer journal is filled with petition after petition for God to open my eyes to the need to surrender fully to Him.
Sometimes, yielding to God's will isn't so hard. But when He asks us to give up something that we really want... or to do something we really don't want to do... or reveals to us something that we're afraid to face up to... that's when it gets difficult.
I struggle with it a lot. "Help me to trust You more, Lord," I pray. "Give me a heart of surrender."
And although there is an element of God helping us in this, He can't force us to trust Him. He can't make us yield to His will.
He extends the invitation to us, and we have to accept it. We have to choose to trust Him, to obey Him. We have to choose to take that first step of faith--He will always meet us and welcome us with open arms.
Admit it: it's the first step that's so hard. Once we take it, suddenly it isn't so hard anymore. Each step closer to God becomes easier. Sure, we'll still struggle sometimes. But each time we choose to do what He says is best, each time we trust Him and rest in His promises, we grow a little bit stronger. We draw a little bit closer to God.
Even though we are saved in the moment that we place our trust in Jesus as our Savior (and are always saved from that moment on), surrendering to Him is a daily choice. It's something we have to choose to do every day, and often every moment. We are still living in this flesh, and even though we are a new creature in Christ, we still stumble and fall sometimes. We drift away from our Lord, and we have to seek Him and ask Him for restoration.
To me, making Jesus the Lord of my life is a daily choice. "I have set the LORD always before me: because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved." (Psalm 16:8) When I purposefully pursue a relationship with Him, when I seek Him, He will be found. And when I draw closer to Him, He draws closer to me (James 4:8).
God doesn't want to be a priority in your life. He wants to be preeminent. We should do everything to His glory. We should seek His will. We should obey His Word. So ask yourself, "How can my life revolve around Christ? How can I make Him the Lord of my life?"