When Jesus was born, the angels sang. When he died, graves opened.
He lived to die. He died so we’d live.

I have a confession to make: I’m a very project-oriented person. I know exactly what I want to accomplish every day of my life, and I tend to do everything I do as fast as I can. Now, there is nothing evil about being project-oriented, but on any given day the tendency for me is to be more functionally committed to my plan and purpose than I am to the purposes of my Redeemer. In the midst of the drivenness of the day I become a God-amnesiac, and my thoughts, desires, and emotions are shaped by how well I am able to accomplish my sovereign plan for the day. This way of living stands in stark contrast to the prayer Jesus taught us to pray and the heart he was calling us to have behind the words of the prayer.
Pray then like this:

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
Come, Let Us Adore Him
Your kingdom come, your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matt. 6:9–10)

This prayer is a call to surrender every moment, every location, every situation, every relationship, and all of my natural gifts and physical and spiritual capacities to the will of the King who has called me to his kingdom. What would happen if I would start every day by praying, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, this day as it is in heaven?” What would change in my marriage or parenting if I would pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, right here, right now in my marriage or with my children, as it is in heaven?” What would happen if I approached the ministry to which God has called me, praying again and again, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, right here, right now, just as it is in heaven”? Or how about surrendering my finances to God with this prayer: “Your kingdom come, your will be done, with all of my money and physical resources, as it is in heaven”?

The reality is that you and I are living either a life of demand or surrender. We are driven by our own agenda and the subtle (or not-so-subtle) demand that nothing or no one get in the way of what we want on any given day. Our demandingness is exposed by the quick anger we have in traffic that is delaying us, in the quick irritation we experience when someone disagrees with us, or the impatience we experience when someone causes us to have to wait. We quickly forget that God rules over every situation, location, and relationship for his glory and our good. And when we forget, we want control over things we will never control, and we tend to do and say things that we should not do or say.

You may be thinking, “Thanks, Paul, but what does this have to do with the thought that is at the beginning of this devotional?” Well, the song of the angels announced to the shepherds and to us the most amazing, most important sur- render story ever. If anyone had a right to have his own way, in every way and all the time, it was Jesus. He wasn’t just acting as if he were the Lord; he was the Lord. But in glorious and gracious surrender he didn’t demand what was his right, but surrendered to the greater agenda of his Father. He was totally and unshakably committed to the plan, purpose, and will of the King. Everything he did, he did in surrender to the kingdom mission to which he had been called.

Jesus came committed to a death and resurrection mission. He came to give us life, but in order to give us life he had to be willing to die. He came with resurrection in view, but with the clear understanding that death always precedes resurrection. This death and resurrection mission was assigned to Jesus before the foundations of this world were laid in place. God’s will was that Jesus would die to pay for our sins, but that the mission wouldn’t end there. His death would be followed by the miracle of his resurrection, by which he conquered death and purchased life for all who would believe in him. The bursting open of graves at the hour of his death was a finger pointing to the resurrection power that was about to be released. The opening of those graves demonstrated that the cross and the tomb were not a defeat, but together are the place where sin and death are soundly defeated.

Here’s what you need to understand. Without Jesus willingly living the prayer that he taught all of us to pray, the angels would have had nothing to sing about, those tombs would’ve never opened, sin and death would have never been conquered, and we would be the dead walking. Without Jesus living in the same surrender to which he now calls us, there would be no hope of the defeat of sin and no reality of eternal life for all who believe. It is true and valuable to remember that the gospel of Jesus Christ teaches us that the most wonderful things in life come to us not as the result of demand and control, but through sacrifice and surrender. Blessings that you could never achieve on your own come when you humbly and willing pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, right here, right now as it is in heaven.” Aren’t you glad that Jesus willingly did on earth what he taught us to do in this prayer?

For further study: 2 Corinthians 5:14–16

For parents and children:

Central theme: Demandingness

Get your children to talk about what it means to say someone is demanding. Ask them how and when they think they’re demanding. Talk to them about how, if Jesus had demanded what was his right, he would never have been willing to come to earth and be born in that manger in Bethlehem.