Exodus 19-21; Psalm 33; Ephesians 5

I don’t know…

Photo by Mandy Baldwin

When was the last time you heard the words, I don’t know?

I feel like I say them a lot. As a therapist I hear clients ask me what they should do. As a Pastor I had people in the church ask me what God wanted them to do. I have had youth ask me what specific passages of scripture meant…and I have found myself saying “I don’t know” more than I would like to admit.

There is a lot in our reading today that has left me thinking “I don’t know…” I don’t know what to do with all the laws listed in Exodus. Laws concerning owning of servants and slaves and how to treat them. Laws about what to do if someone hurts you. Laws concerning how to punish someone who sins. We don’t follow those same laws today, so what do we do with them?

I don’t know…

However, I do know what to do with Ephesians 5:21. “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” (NIV) the word submit has gotten a bad rap. Either we hate it because we think it is referring to what is asked of us, or we love it because we expect it from others. Paul begins his instructions for Christian households with calling on everyone to submit to one another.

That means I don’t get what I want all the time. It means that my needs don’t always come first. It means that I am to allow others to have influence over me. If Church is considered the house of God, does it transfer there as well? I think so. When I was a youth Pastor I looked for ways to submit to the Jr. high youth I worked with. It wasn’t about what I wanted, how I wanted it. It was about working WITH the Jr. high youth and other adults.

Submission is a gift we can give to those we are in relationship with. Boundaries? Absolutely! You cannot have healthy relationships without boundaries. I would also include that you can’t have healthy relationships without submission.

Where can you submit today? Who can you submit to?

Dear God, may the teaching of submission be redeemed by your example and your teaching. May we allow others to have influence over us just as we seek to influence others in your name. Give us wisdom and guidance as we seek to better understand and live out Godly submission. Amen.

Mandy

Advertisement