“Lord, I give You all I have. But, what do I have to give that You don’t already own. I’m Yours” -Shane & Shane
That is so true.
I’ve noticed lately, that sometimes we sing all the songs in church, but don’t really think about what we’re saying. Just to be clear, I am not saying all of us do this! However, I have noticed some of us do, myself included. I think it’s safe to say that sometimes we get caught up in our own thoughts, and before we know it the song is over. I sometimes do this while driving, during class, while I'm at work, or during church. Mostly during class, but that’s a different story... Sometimes we forget to focus and I completely understand that! However, have you ever stopped to think about what you are singing about? For instance, in the pretty, old school hymn “I Surrender All,” you’re singing, “I surrender all. I surrender all. All to Him, my blessed Savior. I surrender all.”
Have you ever stopped to meditate on what these words actually mean?
I believe many of us think there are things we are SUPPOSED to do to be “good” Christians, or that we HAVE to be something we’re not to get to heaven. For example:
Bob goes to church on Sundays, and even a small group during the week. He prays before meals, does daily devotions, and tithes ten percent. He sometimes even volunteers for a ministry in his church when he feels like it.
Those are all great things, but is that what being a Christian is? Is that what surrendering all is? Does it mean giving up two days a week to go to bible study/church out of obligation or guilt? Does it mean tithing ten percent even though you really don’t want to, but you don’t want God, or others, to think you’re selfish? Does it mean praying the same things day after day out of habit? Does it mean volunteering your time so God will give you a couple extra points?
When Bob passes away and is standing in front of God, do you think God will take out his check list and start checking off action after action, and then say, “Oh look at that. You did everything you were supposed to do.” Then God will sign the bottom of the paper, pat Bob on the head, and hand him the paper so he can enter into heaven to be heirs with Christ.
OR
Do you think God will look at Bob with sadness in His eyes and say, “I’m sorry. I showed you my love for you over and over again, but somehow you still tried to work your way into heaven out of your fear for hell. Your eyes were on heaven and not me. Your motivations were not right.”
What if the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit still existed, but heaven or hell did not?
If there was no reward for following Christ, would Bob still follow Him? Would you still follow Him? Most people would probably say there’d be no point. But what motivates us to take care of our parents when they are old and cannot take care of themselves? What motivates us to care for our children, or siblings? What motivates us to visit and take care of our grandparents?
The answer is love.
No matter how many times Bob messed up, his parents still loved him. His mom went looking for him to bring him home safely after he snuck out to go to a party one night. His dad still loved him after he got in a car accident because he was texting while driving. Something his dad repeatedly told him not to do.
What if we saw God as our creator, who has been by our side and who has loved us no matter how many times we’ve messed up? What if we loved God for who He really is and not for what He can give us? Even tho we may turn away, He is still right there next to us. We may not see Him, but He definitely sees us.
Luke 14:26 says, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.”
Um...WHAT!?!
Let me try to explain this verse a little bit...
The word “hate” is used to imply that you must love God more than you love your own family and even your own life. If you don’t, you cannot be a disciple of Christ. I believe this is because God wants you to surrender your life to him and trust that he will take care of the ones you love. Look at the guy in Matthew 8 who asks Jesus if he can follow Him after his father passes away. But Jesus basically tells him not to worry about his father and to come and follow Him now.
Not next year.
Not next week.
Not in an hour.
NOW.
Jesus is saying we should love Him so much that we would go with Him on the spot.
Would you leave your family right now to follow Jesus?
One of the last things recorded that Jesus said to the disciples was “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19-20) It would be really hard to leave your family if you did not love Jesus more than them. It sounds terrible to even think about loving someone more than your child, parent, or even best friend, but we cannot pick and chose what we like about the bible and follow only those specific commands.
Back to the main point...
I think that is what surrendering all is. Giving your life to the one who loves you out of your love for Him and allowing God to change your heart.
I may be wrong...but I think we like to think we have control over everything in our lives...at least I do. Yes, we have free will and make our own decisions. However, I wonder what would happen if we started praying over our decisions, and took time to listen to God instead of talking the whole time. What if surrendering all is something we like to think we’ve done because we're scared to face the truth? Surrendering all is scary, and you can't do it without love. (I want to encourage you to read through the book of John to see how Jesus lived in complete obedience to God, his Father.)
What if God is waiting for you to listen to what He is trying to say to you? Or maybe you are exactly where God has planned for you to be. Maybe He has these HUGE plans for you, but He is waiting for you to let go of something, or maybe God's told you His plans for you because you've already let go. I don’t know, but I think you do.
Giving up your Sunday mornings to worship a God who loves you, because you love Him. Volunteering your time in a ministry at your church to serve the one who loves you, because you love Him. Tithing ten percent because God loves you, and because you love Him. Doing your daily devotions because He loves you, and because you love Him and want to know Him more. Spending time in prayer, not only talking to God, but listening to what God has to say to you, because you want to follow Him...because you love Him. Spending time with God because you love Him. (If you sincerely love God, you’ll want to spend time with Him.) If we can do these things out of love, our relationship with the Lord will grow so much, and we’ll be more willing everyday to surrender all to Him. We’ll learn how to trust in what we cannot see, but what we know is here. If you love Jesus, and start doing these things out of love, your life will look dramatically different.
God is only limited by our capacity for wanting to know Him. Let Him fill you with the knowledge of Him.
How great does that sound? Knowing God more and deepening our relationship with Him. Why wouldn’t we want that? The thing is, we love to hold on to things...at least I do. No matter how much that thing is hurting us, or holding us back, we just do not want to let go! We don’t want to give up our comfortable lives to serve the Lord. We don’t want to let go of our hate for someone because they hurt us. We don’t want to do our school work because we think school is pointless. I’d like to let you know that if you give these things to God it will give you joy, it will bring you peace, but most of all it will glorify Him. People may start to wonder what is different about us. But we can't do this alone. We need each other. Lets let Him take control of the life He has given us.
Let go with me.
Give up with me.
Why are we so scared?
Why are we holding on so tightly with all our strength to what isn’t ours? Aren’t you tired?
I know I am.
-Erika
