It’s 2:30am and I’ve just read something that has hit me so hard, I’m going to share it with you rather than sleep. Share this with someone who needs it…That’s what Make A Difference (MAD) Monday is all about. This is out of the One Year Worship the King Devotional. <click there to get your copy.
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 on 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 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.
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 them. Our lives are His. What business is it of ours if we are uncomfortable under His management? He has higher purposes that we do, and we trust Him. We’ve surrendered all. Chris Tiegreen
That kinda makes this post long enough as it is, but I would be curious to know how many of you feel slapped in the face by that? I know a lot of Christians stop by here. Did you mean it? When you said, “God, I surrender all”, did you mean it? Did you only mean it until you came to a bump in the road? Has the fire you once had for the Lord slowly faded? Just curious! I’ve been there! I’ve been filled with the spirit in church and walked out the door and quietly said, “sorry God, I have to put You on the back burner for a bit…talk to me next Sunday.” Thank God, praise God, that He always wants you back, always welcomes you back; He’s always there, no matter how many times you run away. I love that about our God! It’s 3am and I have all the energy in the world! Thank You Jesus……Thank You!
Did it hit you like it hit me?
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