Out of all the names of God that we’re going to study, this is the one that goes against the grain in our society and culture. If we’re going to reject one of God’s attributes; one of His names–Adonai is the one that gets overlooked or twisted. Adonai means Lord and Master. Can you say that’s true in your life?
Lord and Master
In Biblical times, slavery was common and so I’m sure the ideas of servitude, submission and being dependant on a master were easily understood. A slave was not his own person, but was the property of the master. This did not give the master the right to be cruel–in fact masters were to be fair to their servants. But the point is, that the ideas were easily accepted. However, in our times and especially in the American church, I think the idea of submission to the Lord is largely lost. We just don’t get it.
I have to tell you too, that I think we don’t get it largely because we don’t want to get it. (That would be our sin nature.) In my heart of hearts, without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, I don’t want an Adonai. If we’re really honest, none of us do. But there are two sides to this. A servant must be submissive and dependant and both ideas rub against the grain of our culture. We’re into equality and independence. Everything should be fair and each should make his own way. Calling on Adonai is not just about being submissive. It’s also about being dependant on him.
Shrugging Off Adonai
There are lots of ways to ignore Adonai–our Lord and Master. However, one thing that I find particularly disturbing is what I call the “spirit trend.” Please don’t misunderstand me–I fully believe that the Spirit leads people to do things and that we need to be attentive to the Spirit’s prompting. But I also believe people use the leading of the Holy Spirit as an excuse to not follow Adonai. Let me give you an example.
I once met a woman who claimed that the Lord told her it was okay to sleep with the man she was going to marry before she married him. She said she felt led of the Lord to do this as a means of keeping him in the church. After all, she reasoned (via the “help” of the Holy Spirit) that if she became pregnant with his child he would have to marry her and then he’d go to church. Witnessing by promiscuity.
The Holy Spirit does not lead us to do things that are clearly contrary to Scripture–ever. Scripture is the standard by which we must live our lives and the Spirit will guide us to that ends but never away.
Can you call God, Adonai? Is He your Lord and Master? Or are you avoiding that relationship with Him? Until we are wholly committed to being servants of the Most High God–we will never experience the abundance of riches in living the Christian life.
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