Today. I’m more than alive - more than free. My head has been lifted up above my enemies! I have a higher vision to understand who the God of the Universe is. I have a higher vision to know that He really does love me, even like me, and has invited me to love Him and work with Him on things that are really important to Him. Things like His Word, His love, and His kingdom come on this earth in my life and the lives of those around me. And in the process, I start to realize why He likes these things so much and I begin to really like them too.

My heart fills with joy as I think about God’s perfect leadership over my life. Because I’ve been deceived as to what real leadership is by my former master, God’s perfect leadership seems to include my confusion as to why I am where I am, doing what I’m doing, and things like that. His leadership allows me to be restless, so that I can learn to seek Him, learn to understand His ways, and learn to be excitedly surprised when He peels back the veil as to the reasons why He is doing what He is doing in my life. Like a lover who leaves rose pedals along a beaten path, God continues to draw me along, with a smile on His face and His gentle whisper in my heart. And His leadership always prepares me step by step for a deeper understanding of Him, and a greater fellowship with Him doing the things that are really important to Him, and more and more so, to me.

I’m the Lord’s today because He gave all for me to be His today. He rescued me from my former slave-driver. He even gives me new mercy every morning in case I forget, which I’m prone to often do. His Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path, guiding my path only with what is necessary to inspire more hunger for Him. This is a stark contrast to my former master’s ways. Oppositely, he would seem to show me everything ahead of time, all the “great” things I could and would have, promising all these pleasures and successes, alluring me with things and stuff, never himself - and then when I would follow after I would only fall deeper and deeper in darkness. The “prize” was always a vanishing mist, always promised by never given. In contrast to the Lord, the more I walked after the former master’s ways, the less I learned, the more unprepared for life I was, the more unsatisfied I was in my relationships, and though I may have appeared confident, the more and more deluded I became about who I was and what my purpose was.

God’s leadership style is so different, but so perfect. He shows me little by little, allowing me to enjoy Him and His ways now and beckoning me on even though the path is difficult. Satan’s leadership is terribly alluring, but incredibly horrifying. He shows me everything and anything I “think” I want, allowing me to destroy myself with my ways and dragging me along into misery, though the way seems “smooth” ahead. God always prepares me for truth, Satan would always devastates me with lies. God sets me up for love, joy, and freedom, Satan would always set me up for hate, bitterness, and bondage.

Oh the joy of being the Lord’s Today!