Who's in Charge of You?

Last month I had dinner with Dr. Pete Schemm from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. While there I learned a great lesson from this man who has poured much time into my life. The waitress came up to us as we were preparing to order and told us about a special from the menu for two to eat for a particular price. As soon as she finished, before either us even looked at what she said, Dr. Schemm responded, "We're not interested." Well, I wasn't sure if I was or wasn't. So when she walked away I asked him why he responded so fast. Now, before I give his answer, let me say I wasn't really interested either, but it was just a very quick response. I was just shocked at how quickly he replied. His answer was, "Because I'm in charge of what I eat, not her or this menu."

That has not left me after several weeks. In that moment I learned a very important lesson. It is very easy for many of us to be enslaved by things that we ought to be in charge of. Food is one of them. For instance, when challenged with fasting I sometimes think I can't do it because I'm too enslaved to food. Or, when it comes to living a disciplined life I'm too enslaved to laziness, or television, or the Internet, or Facebook, or Twitter, or a thousand other things. This lesson I learned from my dear mentor that night is far more applicable than just food. He taught me to think through every situation, every motive, every desire, and to make sure I'm in charge of my life (under the authority of Christ of course).

For me this has changed several things. I'm not perfect by any imagination, but I have already seen a significant difference in my life since that final dinner of last semester. When I'm too tired to pray or read, I quickly remind myself that tiredness doesn't rule over me, Christ does! And if I am under Christ then I will seek Him. I will work to not be overcome with sin, but rather to be overcome with Christ that I may live in such a way that He is glorified, and my joy is made full.

Who is in charge of you? Are you still battling the enslavement of sin? Are you still giving yourself over to the desires of the flesh? Or are you fighting, with all you have, to give yourself to Christ and thus no longer be ruled by sin.