Wholly Devoted Knees Series

Introduction:

A. Today we are completing our Wholly Devoted Series.

1. I hope you have found this series to be challenging and enriching!

2. We have been exploring how to be wholly devoted to God with all that we are and all that we have.

3. One last time, let’s review the two verses that have provided the Scriptural foundation for the series.

a. Jesus said: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:30)

b. Paul wrote: “Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God…and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness” (Romans 6:13).

4. Here are the parts of our bodies that we are trying to use as instruments of righteousness:

a. A wholly devoted mind.

b. A wholly devoted heart.

c. A wholly devoted tongue.

d. Wholly devoted eyes.

e. Wholly devoted ears.

f. Wholly devoted hands.

g. And wholly devoted feet.

5. Today we want to explore what it means to have wholly devoted knees.

6. So let’s turn our attention to our knees.

B. The story is told of old man Johnson who limped into the doctor's office and said, “Doc, my knee hurts so bad, I can hardly walk!”

1. The doctor slowly eyed him from head to toe, paused and then said, “Mr. Johnson, just how old are you?”

2. “98!” Johnson announced proudly.

3. The doctor just sighed, and looked at him again.

4. Finally the doctor said, “Mr. Johnson, I'm sorry. I mean, just look at you. You're practically one hundred years old, and you're complaining that your knee hurts? Well, what did you expect?”

5. The old man said, “Excuse me, but my other knee is 98 years old too, and it don't hurt!”

C. Physically speaking, our knees sure can give us trouble.

1. My left knee just won’t allow me to run for exercise anymore.

2. Maybe you have some kind of trouble with your knees.

3. When we have knee trouble, it shouldn’t surprise us because the knee is the largest joint in the human body and it is very complicated.

4. The knee is one of the most important joints of our body, because it plays an essential role in movement related to carrying all of the weight of our bodies.

5. Because the knee is made up of so many different parts, many things can go wrong with it.

D. As important as our knees may be to us physically, the spiritual implications of our knees are even greater.

1. As we talk about having wholly devoted knees, I will be talking about both the figurative and the literal spiritual significance of our knees.

2. The two lessons that I want us to learn about the spiritual significance of our knees are intertwined and are almost inseparable, but we will deal with them one at a time anyway.

I. Wholly Devoted Knees Kneel in Submission to God.

A. This is a more figurative thing than a literal thing.

1. I like the story told of the little boy whose mother kept insisting he sit down on the chair.

a. When he finally plopped onto the chair, his glare told the real story.

b. The little boy said, “I may be sitting down on the outside–but I'm still standing up on the inside!”

2. A life that truly pleases God is one where the person is kneeling in submission to God on the outside and on the inside.

B. As you know, submission is not a very popular concept in American culture today.

1. But in all honesty, submission has been a challenge for humans since the garden of Eden.

2. We want to think of ourselves as being “in charge,” and that we don’t have to submit to or obey anyone.

3. But the Bible makes it clear that God is God, and we are not, and that submission is essential for a relationship with God.

C. How many of you saw the movie Bruce Almighty?

1. As with most films from Hollywood, there is good and bad in them, and this one is no exception – but probably more good than bad.

2. The comedian Jim Carrey stars in the movie, and plays a TV reporter who thinks he is being overlooked for promotions and that various other misfortunes mean that God doesn’t care, or at least has let him down.

3. When God, played by Morgan Freeman, shows up to offer Bruce His own power for a season to see if he can do any better with it, Bruce accepts the deal.

4. Soon Bruce is indulging himself in the fulfillment of his fantasies.