Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat—I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? Lk 9:23-25
Christian singer Paul Colman shared recently how he keeps on trying to take the wheel off Jesus and steer his own life, and every time he does, he crashes and burns. He had a vision once of himself in the front seat of his car holding a kids steering wheel that Jesus gave him, so he thought he was really driving.
Carrie Underwood, former American Idol winner, released a song called “Jesus take the wheel”. It was played on the radio all over the world and shot to the top of the country music charts. Obviously the message resonated with the hearts of people everywhere. As humans, we try to steer our lives in the right direction, but when we do we lose ourselves. The only true way to find ourselves is to lose our life for Jesus. Give him the wheel.
We get so caught up in a hedonistic lifestyle, with a me-focussed attitude, that we lose the real person we are meant to be. It’s like every materialistic thing that we give ourselves to we are putting on another mask. And to come to Christ is peeling away each mask like peeling an onion. It has lots of layers, with nothing in the end. That’s how we are meant to be. Serving him, letting him guide us and lead us, peeling off each mask until there is no me, and all him.
One of my favourite worship songs from David Ruis sings over and over, “More of you and less of me and more of you and less of me and more of you and more of you Jesus…” Over and over they sing it. And just when you think he’s sung it too many times, you get it. It’s all about Jesus, not Matt Prater. As I decrease, he increases. That’s how I find who I’m meant to be.
It’s all in the serving, suffering, the self-sacrifice, giving him the wheel.
Jesus take the wheel. Amen.