Good morning. “Lord” is not a difficult word. One syllable, four letters, easy. But the word Lord carries with it promise, purpose, and fidelity. Above all, the word is defined as proclaiming intention of yielding one’s will to the will and desires another.
In the first century, that time when the Body of Christ, His church, was in its infancy the word “Lord” was especially challenging for our Lord’s people.
The Roman emperor Nero decided that those persons who worshipped Jesus Christ were a problem. The heart of the issue was that Nero had renewed an older Roman policy that the emperor of Rome was a deity, and therefore worthy of worship. In accordance with Roman policies, it was fine for every person living in their empire to worship the god of their choice. But once a year it was required that every family send a representative to recognize Nero as Lord. That person was to come to a temple of the emperors, pay a sum for special incense; pay a tribute as an offering; light the incense; and then in the hearing of the temple priests repeat “Caesar is my lord, he is the lord of lords”. It was expensive and a bit tedious, but not particularly difficult. Unless you were a Christian.
For Christians it was not possible to say that any human being was lord and god. This was reserved for Christ and for Him alone. Using the word meant proclaiming Nero as a god and was accompanied by a promise of obedience and recognition that his will was supreme. Many Christians died horrible deaths rather than saying anyone but Christ is Lord.
For us, using the word lord isn’t a matter of life and death. But there can be areas of our lives that demand power and recognition as “lord”. Do our political views act as lord? Is our work toward financial security serving as lord in our daily life? Are ideas about sexuality or hobbies and pastimes important enough to have effectively become our lord and master? Is there anything or anyone so central to our thoughts and activities that it or they could be called lord of our time and/or our resources?
O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together. Psalm 43:3
There is only One who is worthy of being our Lord. Honor Him with all you do today.Vern