January 13 | Jesus is My Sensei
Luke 6:46, “Why do you call me, Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say?”
“Wax on, wax off!” Do you remember Mr. Miyagi from the movie Karate Kid? Mr. Miyagi was the karate sensei (expert teacher) to young Daniel LaRusso in the movie. “Daniel-San,” as Mr. Miyagi liked to call him, came to him to learn karate so he could defend himself from the bullies at school. The bullies’ sensei was John Kreese, and they belonged to the karate gang Cobra Kai.
In the movie, Mr. Miyagi wanted to first teach Daniel-San discipline and technique, but Daniel only wanted to learn “power moves.” As a result, Daniel got frustrated and wanted to quit, but Mr. Miyagi wouldn’t change his method of teaching. Eventually, the karate kid humbled himself and willingly received Mr. Miyagi’s instruction. In the end, even such seemingly minor tasks as waxing cars became the foundation for moves that made Daniel a karate champion.
The same is true for us, as disciples of Jesus, in our relationship with Him as our Lord and Savior. The Greek word for Lord means, “master.” In the above passage, Jesus is rebuking people on Judgment Day because they called Him “Lord” (Master), but didn’t do what He commanded. However, we as Jesus’ true disciples are to look to Him as our Sensei (Teacher) and obey all that He commanded (even if like Daniel, we don’t understand it).
Jesus said, in John 14:15, “If you love me, keep my commands.” He didn’t mean we are to only obey the commands we like, He meant for us to keep all of His commands.
When Jesus commands us to not look at people lustfully, we are to say, “Yes Master, I will guard my heart and my eyes.” When Jesus calls us to spend private time with Him, in prayer and devotion, we are to say, “Yes Master, I will come and spend time with you alone.” Even if Jesus commands us to give away all of our possessions to the poor, as He did with the rich man in Mark 10:17-22, we are to humbly say, “Yes Master, I’ll give everything I own to the poor.”
If we say Jesus is our Master and don’t do what He says we are hypocrites and deserve to be cast out of His presence for eternity. We must follow Jesus and obey what He teaches if we truly want to hear Him say to us on Judgment Day, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” (Matthew 25:21). At this point someone might ask, “What if I sin and don’t obey Jesus?” Jesus gave us a command to follow when we break His commands; the command to repent (Revelation 2:5). So repent, turn around, and start obeying! Make a decision, today, to do what Sensei Jesus tells you to do.
Reflection
Action
- Search your heart, today, to see if there are areas in your life you need to change. Submit to Jesus.
- Repent of all disobedience and start following all of Jesus’ commands.
- Keep following Jesus’ commands, everyday, and if you sin again, repent and ask God to change your heart so that you will stop sinning in that area of your life (1 John 3:9).