Following Christ means learning to yield …

I’ve never understood how two ships can collide. It’s not like one can sneak up on another, there’s lots of ocean in which to see the other ship coming!

But sometimes collisions at sea, like collisions in life, are caused by stubbornness and pride, like this story reported in Closer Walk:

“In the summer of 1986, two ships collided in the Black Sea off the coast of Russia. Hundreds of passengers died as they were hurled into the icy waters below. News of the disaster was further darkened when an investigation revealed the cause of the accident. It wasn’t a technology problem like radar malfunction — or even thick fog. The cause was human stubbornness. Each captain was aware of the other ship’s presence nearby. Both could have steered clear, but according to news reports, neither captain wanted to give way to the other. Each was too proud to yield first. By the time they came to their senses, it was too late.”

Our bent as sinful people is to live lives as human bulldozers, yielding to no one but instead bulldozing through anything and everyone who gets in the way of our getting our way. It was a failure to yield that originally introduced sin into this world, and since then we haven’t stopped pushing through others to get what we want.

But following Jesus as His disciple means living very differently — it means learning to yield in the following ways:

Yielding our lives to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. You likely are familiar with the story of creation and the first couple whose insistence on not yielding to God would ruin everything for all of us. God had blessed Adam and Eve with a life of paradise, with just one small restriction …

“The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. But the Lord God warned him, ‘You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden — except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die,’” Genesis 2:15-17.

God offered so much, but it was that little sliver He held back that humanity wanted. Refusing to yield to God, Eve ate of the forbidden fruit, and Adam followed suit. The result was spiritual death that separates us from God, with physical death to follow.

When there is a collision of wills, there’s usually not a second chance to avoid the wreckage and carnage that follows. But God provides us with a new opportunity to fully, completely yield our lives to Him …

“And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation,” 2 Corinthians 5:18-19.

“But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died. So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man. Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life,” 1 Corinthians 15:20-22.

Forgiveness of sin, conquering death, and full reconciliation of our relationship to God is offered by our yielding all of our selves to Him …

“Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you,” James 4:7 (NASB).

Yielding our lives to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Yielding to God isn’t a one-time event so we can make sure we can get into heaven. When we fully yield to God the entirety of our lives, He saves us and gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit who comes to live in us and guide us throughout the rest of our lives. We’re empowered to become like Jesus and be able to live for Him by our constantly yielding to the Holy Spirit. Trying to maintain control in your life as a Christian is like holding one side of a horse’s reins while the Holy Spirit holds the other side. It’s going to cause major problems if you don’t yield!

“And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption,” Ephesians 4:30.

“Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives,” Galatians 5:25.

Yielding to one another. There’s a lady I know who has a habit of not only speaking voluminously, but brashly as well, boasting that “everyone” will always know what she thinks. This woman, who professes to be a Christian, is not only lacking self-awareness but “other awareness” as well, not knowing where she ends and others begin. In other words, she refuses to yield to the considerations of others. Such an attitude will result in collisions with people, something that can — and should — be avoided, which Stephen Beck notes as follows …

Driving down a country road, I came to a very narrow bridge. In front of the bridge, a sign was posted: “YIELD.” Seeing no oncoming cars, I continued across the bridge and to my destination. On my way back, I came to the same one-lane bridge, now from the other direction. To my surprise, I saw another YIELD sign posted. Curious, I thought, “I’m sure there was one posted on the other side.” When I reached the other side of the bridge I looked back. Sure enough, yield signs had been placed at both ends of the bridge. Drivers from both directions were requested to give right of way. It was a reasonable and gracious way of preventing a head-on collision. When the Bible commands Christians to “be subject to one another” (Ephesians 5:21) it is simply a reasonable and gracious command to let the other have the right of way and avoid interpersonal head-on collisions.

A word from James provides a profound statement about being willing to yield to others …

“If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying. For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind. But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness,” James 3:13-18.

Insisting on bulldozing your way through life will rob you of all God has for you, and the joy of peace you can experience with others. Fullness of life is found first in yielding to God, yielding each day to the leading of the Holy Spirit, and learning when to yield with graciousness to others.

Have you learned to yield, or are you still bulldozing your way through life?

Scotty