As we’ve explored our relationship with God as His handiwork through the biblical metaphors of the vineyard and the potter the past couple of months, they force us to acknowledge our need to submit to Him. We recognize our insufficiency and our dependence on Jesus. This week’s reflection goes one step further and asks if this is indeed a reality in our lives:

IN WORD – When you were first saved, or as you grew in your walk with Christ, you probably told God that you surrendered all of your desires, plans, skills, talents, relationships, and resources to Him. (If not, stop reading and consider doing that now.) That pledge is a serious one, and most of us have made it with all sincerity and even enthusiasm. We’ve begun to see ourselves as His possession, available for His purposes. We gave Him the keys to our lives—keys that we wrongly held as our own. And, according to His plan, He probably began to test our devotion. That’s the catch. The thought of letting Jesus have our all was liberating and relaxing when we first had it.
But when He began to take our word for it, we balked. Did He remove a loved one from you? Let your peaceful circumstances erupt in chaos? Threaten your financial security? Limit the use of your time or talents? It hurt. It had to. He has to make our devotion more than theoretical. He will not let us live under an illusion that we have surrendered all to Jesus when we haven’t. In our hearts, we have to let everything go but Him. It’s often a shock that God would actually take us up on some of our offered sacrifices.
When we tell Him we’ll go anywhere and do anything for the glory of His name, we have to mean it. He already knows whether we’re authentic in our devotion, but do we? No, we have to notice our own reactions to be sure. When we develop hard feelings toward Him because He has not given us what we wanted, He has opened our eyes: We wanted some things more than we wanted Him.
IN DEED – Did you mean it when you told God, “I give my life to You”? Then His removal of your props should be no surprise. We cannot “give” Him our lives and then complain when He takes them—or painfully touches them, or seemingly deprives us of them. Our lives are His. What business is it of ours if we are uncomfortable under His management? He has higher purposes than we do, and we trust Him. We’ve surrendered all. – “No sin is small.” – Jeremy Taylor (in “Worship the King” by Chris Tiegreen)

If you would like to understand what it means to be fully surrendered to Christ, take time this week to read Paul’s letter to the Philippians, focusing on the sharing of his walk with Jesus. Can you agree with Paul’s declaration in Philippians 4:19? If not, then ask the Holy Spirit to help you fully experience the joy and power of one who is fully surrendered to Jesus. Have a blessed week! – from Singapore, Pastor Sam