Blogging Through The Alphabet: Letter A

I used to blog quite frequently, but just got out of the habit and decided I would take up a challenge of a friend to spend the next 26 weeks blogging through the alphabet.

Blogging Through The Alphabet (you can read other people's post on the letter A here)

So I begin today with the letter A which will be for Adonai.  I have always enjoyed studying the different names for God.  We lose so much from the original languages that the Bible was written (Old Testament-Hebrew and New Testament-Greek).  They had many more names for God that reflected different aspects of His personality.  I was going to say what my favorite is, but I think I will keep any readers in suspense and reveal it with the letter E :-) 

The first use of the word Adonai in the Bible is found in Genesis 15:2 "But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?" Adonai is the plural for the Hebrew word "adon" which translates to "my lord". Thus the word Adonai generally denotes the authority and exalted position of God. Primarily, as it pertains to God, Adonai stress God's relationship with man as Master, Authority and Provider.  If God is Adonai to you, He is the one to whom you submit or bow down; He is the Boss of your life. Adonai is the ultimate authority figure in your life and the One to whom you owe your complete allegiance.

So it begs us to question "Who's the boss of you?",  Most of us don't like to submit to anyone else.  Our culture cries out for us to be "our own person", be self sufficient.  How many times have we tried to see how close we can come to breaking the rules without really breaking them? Isn't our prison system filled with people that thought they could break the rules with no consequences?

It is easy to be submissive when we agree with the rules.  But when God is Adonai, you allow him to have total control and authority.  Your rules then become:

• "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." (Matthew 22:37)
•  "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" (Matthew 5:44)
•  "So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one      separate." (Matthew 19:6)
• "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right" (Ephesians 6:1)
• "Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor." (Romans 12:10)

These are just of few of many.  But if we all submitted and did these five, how would our world be different?  If marriages were intact, children obeyed their parents, everyone loved their enemies and tried to outdo one another in showing honor?  It would be transforming.  That is is why it is important for those of us who call God, Adonai to be different.  We are called to be the light in the darkness.  Perhaps that would be easier to do if we remember who is the Master of our lives and what He asks us to submit to.  Who's your boss?