Morning Devotional

March 27, 2004

"In Control" 

by Don Emmitte

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Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before God made anything at all and is supreme over all creation. Christ is the one through whom God created everything in heaven and earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can't see, kings, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities. Everything has been created through him and for him. He existed before everything else began, and he holds all creation together. Christ is the head of the church, which is his body. He is the first of all who will rise from the dead, so he is first in everything. For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and by him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of his blood on the cross. This includes you who were once so far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions, yet now he has brought you back as his friends. He has done this through his death on the cross in his own human body. As a result, he has brought you into the very presence of God, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. (Colossians 1:15-22 NLT).

Recently I was reminded of my days as a Student Director on a college campus. One of my duties was to teach college level religion classes. I remember one semester of “The Life and Times of the Apostle Paul” as we came to Ephesians I wanted to illustrate the concept of grace. I gave the class a quiz in which I asked them to write their thoughts about the subject in 100 words. They had the entire period to compose their essay. As the period drew to a close and I received the papers, I asked the class to remain for a moment. Without reading a single paper I tore them all in half and threw them in the trash. Then I announced that everyone present that day would receive an “A” on the quiz. I then explained that was how God gave us his grace. No matter how hard we try, we can’t earn it. He just gives it!

It was amazing to see their reaction. Some thought it was a joke. Others couldn’t believe that I would do that. It is human nature to want to earn our way. We want to be even. We don’t want to owe anyone anything. I paid for another employee’s lunch the other day. He wasn’t with me, just in the same restaurant. After lunch he came to my office and offered to pay me for his meal. He was angry that I had paid for his lunch! I simply said that if he needed to spend that money he should go give it to a charity, his lunch was already paid for.

We all have a lot of bills with God. We can't pay those either. We want to control everything. It's the adult child syndrome. We're big into control. Did you hear about the man in India who was making a trip across the entirety of the nation? Everything he owned was in a suitcase. He put the suitcase in a rack on the train above where he was sitting and he put his eyes on the suitcase because everything he owned was in the suitcase and he knew there were thieves on the train. It was two o'clock in the morning when he simply couldn't keep his eyes open any longer. For just a few seconds he drifted off and when he opened his eyes, the suitcase was gone. He then said out loud, "Thank God, now I can go to sleep."

You don't control anything. You're not big enough. The powers are far beyond you. Now isn't that a relief? You can go to sleep. God is in charge.