God Issues Today: "My Mustang and My Soul"

Author, educator and commentator Dr. James Denison has been pastor of Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas since June, 1998. Prior to that, he was pastor at churches in Atlanta, Georgia, as well as Midland (at First Baptist!) and Mansfield, Texas.

I'm such a trend-setter. For years I drove my beloved 1965 Mustang with no idea that I was starting a national movement. But today's Wall Street Journal reports that the rest of you have caught on to my wisdom. Old cars are skyrocketing in popularity in this recession. People are keeping and repairing their vehicles, and buying extended warranties for them. It seems that my Mustang was a harbinger of things to come.

To be honest, I didn't drive it because it was economical. Nor did I eventually sell it because of the economy. My wife hated my favorite possession, perhaps because I spent more time repairing it than driving it. When I sadly watched it drive away in the hands of its new owner, my act of self-denial was actually in my best interest.

We are learning how to practice the presence of God in hectic and troubled times, following the wisdom of Thomas Kelly, the Quaker missionary and scholar whose A Testament of Devotion is a spiritual classic. He urges us to invite Christ into our souls by faith and turn our thoughts toward our Lord all through the day.

Now we come to the third and crucial step: disown yourself. Kelly observes: "It is just this astonishing life that is willing . . . sincerely to disown itself, this life that intends complete obedience, without any reservations, that I would propose to you in all humility, in all boldness, in all seriousness. I mean this literally, utterly, completely, and I mean it for you and for me—commit your lives in unreserved obedience to Him" (pp. 24-25, italics his).

How? Begin where you are. Obey what you know to obey from God today. Surrender what you know to surrender. Confess what you know to confess. As best you can today, give up rights to your own ambitions, dreams, hopes. Put them into God's hands. Trust that the One whose Son died for you, the One who knows the future you cannot see, will guide your life better than you can.

Ask him to guide your next step, to reveal your next decision, to use your life for his purposes. When you sense yourself taking your life back, give it again. When you take it back, give it again. Time after time after time. Disown yourself.

Here's what you'll experience: "Self-renunciation means God-possession, the being possessed by God" (p. 31). Here is the key to the power, peace and presence of God. It is the key to the life you seek this morning. We'll finish our series tomorrow.