I SURRENDER ALL!

"So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple."  

Luke 14:33

God gave the animals instinct, but He gave us something even greater, the gift of "free moral agency." We are free to truly love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, strength, and mind. With that gift comes the freedom to ignore our Creator and pursue our own personal preferences. The reality is that we were made with the specific purpose to glorify our God by freely doing what He wants. To do otherwise is sin, rebellion, and evil. The key to joy, love, peace, and beauty in God's well-ordered Universe is to surrender our self-centered desires to those of our Lord. Surrender is the key.

Our beautiful song, "I Surrender All," shows us how lovely it is to forsake all and become a faithful follower of our Lord Jesus.  To surrender all, placing it at the feet of Jesus:  putting Him first and loving Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30).  Our beloved Peter expressed it, "Look, we have left what we had and followed You."  (Luke 18:28)

As I was reading each word of this song, I began to wonder how many of us really surrender all to the lordship of Christ. To surrender all to Christ is an every moment and day-by-day experience. To surrender all to Christ is:

• To give up our will for God’s will.
• To make time for the kingdom of God and His righteousness with joy (Matt. 6:33).
• To put on the mind of Christ (a desire to increase our understanding and knowledge of the will of God that we might serve Him faithfully and walk worthy of Him).
• To be full of joy even when one is down, discouraged, or wallowing in self-pity.
• To give up all of our pent-up emotions.
• To stand on the promises of God's Word rather than surrender to doubt and disbelief.
• To heed reproof and receive correction with a humble heart.
• To offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which is our reasonable service to Him. 

When we humble ourselves at His feet and surrender all to Him, we express the kind of repentance that our God demands.  God demands that we submit entirely, wholly to Him, renouncing all we have:  worldly pleasures and possessions (Psalm 51:15-17; Luke 14:33).  The apostle Paul is an excellent example of submitting all to Christ (Gal. 2:20).  His followers' primary desire or goal must be that of wholly belonging to our Savior with the right attitude of heart, the attitude that He demands of His followers (Matt. 16:24-26).  Those who live wholly for Christ, doing His Father's will, have come to know the joy there is in knowing and following Jesus (Matt. 7:21; Phil. 4:4).  Therefore, we must give ourselves completely to Jesus by placing Him first in our lives before anyone else (Matt. 10:34-38).  Our commitment to surrender all to Him must be like that of the Macedonians who gave themselves to the Lord and to the will of God (2 Cor. 8:5).  The Philippian jailer is another excellent example of one who surrendered all that he might know and follow Jesus and obtain true joy (Acts 16:30-34).  

Those who surrender all to Christ in complete obedience can find the eternal salvation that only Christ offers (Heb. 5:8-9).  Therefore, they give glory to His name (Rev. 14:7).  Only those who, from a sincere heart, humbly surrender all to Jesus are willing to sacrifice everything, do what is required of them to follow Jesus, and receive His salvation from the weight of sin.  Since they are willing to live for Him, doing the will of their Father here on earth, they will indeed receive the hope of eternal life with Him in heaven.  So, if you want to receive the promise, the hope of eternal life with Jesus in heaven, you must start surrendering all to Him.

Jesus is our best example of surrendering all to God. He prayed, "Not My will but Thine be done," then He died for us on the cruel cross of Calvary.  How about you? Are you willing to surrender all to Christ, take up your cross, and follow Him daily? Are you willing to surrender all and become God's faithful servant?

Let me share with you the beautiful words of this song.

I SURRENDER ALL

By Judson Woodbridge Van DeVenter

All to Jesus I surrender,

All to Him I freely give;

I will ever love and trust Him,

In His presence daily live.

All to Jesus I surrender,

Humbly at His feet I bow;

Worldly pleasures all forsaken,

Take me, Jesus, take me now.

All to Jesus I surrender,

Lord, I give myself to Thee;

Fill me with Thy love and power,

Let Thy blessing fall on me.

REFRAIN

I surrender all,

I surrender all;

All to Thee, my blessed Savior,

I surrender all!

May we surrender all to Christ, taking up our own cross and following Him faithfully every step of our walk here on earth, becoming His faithful servants.  May we give up our own will for God's will.  May we surrender all to Christ in complete obedience and receive the eternal salvation He offers to all those who obey Him and do His Father's will.  May we sacrifice all for Christ to receive His promise of eternal salvation with Him in heaven.

Luci