#24 GOD HAS THE RIGHT TO DEMAND 8-23-26
God has the right to demand our allegiance because He is the One who made us. We did not create ourselves. We did not give ourselves life. We did not form our own bodies, breathe our own breath, or determine the circumstances of our existence. We are creatures, and He is the Creator. The One who made us has every right to tell us how we are to live. “It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves” (Psalm 100:3).
God has the right to demand because He created us. A manufacturer has the right to establish the purpose for which something was designed. An author has the right to determine the meaning of his story. A builder has the right to establish the purpose of the house he constructs. And God has the right to direct the lives of the people He created. You belong to Him because you came from Him. “For in Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28).
God also has the right to demand because He cares for us. His authority is not cold or cruel. The commands of God come from the heart of a Father who loves His children. He does not demand our obedience because He wants to diminish us. He calls us to obedience because He knows what is best for us. Every command of God carries the concern of God. His restrictions are often protections. His corrections are expressions of love. “For whom the Lord loves He chastens” (Hebrews 12:6).
God has the right to demand because He controls all things. We may imagine that we are independent, but we live every moment beneath the providence of God. He gives us breath. He gives us life. He sustains the world in which we live. The sun rises because He permits it to rise. We awaken because He has given us another day. “He upholds all things by the word of His power” (Hebrews 1:3). We are not autonomous creatures wandering through a universe that belongs to nobody. We are living in a world that belongs to God.
Therefore, God has every right to demand our allegiance. He has every right to demand our obedience. He has every right to demand our worship. He has every right to say, “Follow Me.” He has every right to say, “Forsake sin.” He has every right to say, “Love Me with all your heart.” He has every right to claim first place in our lives because He is not merely another voice competing for our attention. He is our Maker.
And here is what makes His demand so beautiful. The God who has the right to demand everything from us has already given everything for us. He did not merely create us and leave us alone. He came looking for us in our sin. He gave His Son for our redemption. Christ bore our shame, carried our sin, endured our death, and opened the way for us to come home to God. “We love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19).
So when God asks for your allegiance, remember who is asking. Your Creator is asking. Your Sustainer is asking. Your Redeemer is asking. The One who gave you life is asking you to give your life back to Him.
God has the right to demand.
But even more wonderfully, God has given us every reason to willingly surrender.
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Father, You are our Creator, our Sustainer, and our Redeemer. Forgive us for the times we have acted as though our lives belong to us. Teach us to recognize Your authority and gladly submit to Your will. Give us hearts that do not merely obey Your commands but love the One who gives them. May our lives belong completely to You because You have given everything for us. In the name of Jesus, Amen.
BDD
