Monday Minute with God: What I’m Learning by Adrienne Terrebone
My husband recently returned from a six-month deployment. A deployment that was extremely difficult on many levels for me and my three children. As the date of his homecoming approached, I worried about how the kids would react. Would they be angry because he had left them for so many months? Would they be fearful he would leave again? Would they shy away from him or would they run to him with open arms, accepting him as if he’d never been gone?
As I stood to the side and witnessed the tearful reunion, I was overcome with gratitude to my Heavenly Father for His grace. And I watched as our youngest daughter confidently grabbed her daddy’s hand, allowing him to lead her out the airport doors and toward home. In that moment, I realized just how much love and trust she has for her father. That moment is etched in my memory as a depiction of our daughter yielding to her daddy as he led her down the path.
What I’m Learning
Recently I was reading in Romans chapter 6 and I came across verse 13.
“…offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life…” (NIV)
As I began to study this verse in other translations, I stumbled upon the word yield. The King James Version translates the scripture in this way: “…but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead…”
The word yield captured my attention. A word with a variety of definitions, to yield means 1) to give in return for labor expended; 2) to surrender; to relinquish; 3) to give way.
For me, yielding means giving up my own desires and plans. When I yield, I depend on God to guide, even if it means giving up my plan for the day. Or my plan for the week. Or even my plan for my life.
Just as my daughter allowed her daddy to lead her, hand in hand, our Abba Father wants to do the same with each of us.
God has recently been teaching me a lot about obedience and trust. In fact, our family verse for 2017 is Psalm 143:8 which says, “Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life.” (NIV) I am learning that when we choose to trust the Lord, it becomes much easier to obey Him and follow where He leads.
How I’m Learning
Looking up word definitions. Reading verses in different translations can be helpful in understanding the original meaning of the passage. Using resources such as a Comparative Study Bible or biblehub.com help us better understand what the author was attempting to say. And looking up word definitions from different translations can give additional insight to the author’s intent as we apply the scripture to our own lives.
Reading a verse in different translations. Often, as I read several translations of a scripture, I find one version that is more meaningful to me than the others. In the passage from Romans mentioned above, I connected with the word yield in the King James Version in a more personal way than I did with some of the other translations.
Think About It
God has been teaching me about giving up my will for His. As I ponder the word yield in relation to my obedience, I have been learning how that looks in a practical sense. Each morning, I make a list of the items on my agenda, pray over that list, and then present each item as a fragrant offering to the Lord “just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Ephesians 5:2 (NIV)
I want to bring my daily plans before the Lord and then allow Him to show me those things that are most important and those that can wait another day. I want to yield my day to Jesus, allowing Him to lead me instead of my daily agenda leading me. For me, this is a practical way of yielding.
How do you “offer yourselves to God” (Rom 6:13) each day? Do you begin your day in prayer or in God’s Word? What is one thing you can do today in order to allow the Lord to lead you?
All In:
All in. Everyday. All day.
Today, let’s choose to be “all in” with Jesus as we yield to Him, offering our to-do list to Him and allowing Him to guide our day.
Pray About It
Father, You are so good to us. Help us yield to You, depending on your guidance. Give us wisdom to be obedient as You lead. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Photo credit: Johanna Lakin Photography
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