Surrender

Mark 10:21-22 (NIV) “Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.”

Mark 10:28-31 (NIV) “Then Peter spoke up, ‘We have left everything to follow you!’ ‘Truly I tell you,’ Jesus replied, ‘no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.’”

Genesis 22:1-2 (NIV) “Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, ‘Abraham!’ ‘Here I am,’ he replied. Then God said, ‘Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.'"

Luke 14:33 (NIV) “In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.”

Matthew 16:24-25 (NIV) “Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.’”

I woke up this morning with the song “Surrender” in my head. The chorus of the song is simple “I surrender all to you, all to you” I began to think about how easy it is to sing that song compared to how challenging it can be to actually do what it says. Deep down we who follow Christ understand that it is not enough to just sing the words. The real test of our trust and our dependence on Jesus is when “surrender” happens in real life. Abraham was asked to give up his son. As if that weren’t hard enough to do, by giving up his son, he was also giving up his dream – a dream that had been given to him by God himself. Abraham decided to lay down his vision of the future and pin all of his hopes on the words spoken to him by God. Because of this act of faith, God gave him back his son and promised to bless Abraham with descendents that would be “as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore.” (Genesis 22:17) His descendents would bless all the nations on earth because Abraham surrendered to God and obeyed.

Christ-follower, what is your Lord asking you to surrender? Take this opportunity to sing, speak and meditate on the words of this song. Listen to the Spirit as He speaks to you and leads you in surrender.


Surrender by Marc James, © 2000 Vineyard Songs (UK/Eire) (Admin. by Vineyard Music UK)


I'm giving You my heart
And all that is within
I lay it all down
For the sake of You my King
I'm giving You my dreams
I'm laying down my rights
I'm giving up my pride
For the promise of new life

And I surrender
All to You all to You
And I surrender
All to You all to You

I'm singing You this song
I'm waiting at the cross
And all the world holds dear
I count it all as loss
For the sake of knowing You
The glory of Your name
To know the lasting joy
Even sharing in Your pain

And I surrender
All to You all to You
And I surrender
All to You all to You