I SURRENDER

Every Believer's Constant Theme

I surrender all; I surrender all
All to Thee, my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.

The word “surrender” seems to be a constant theme in this believer’s life. Every day I find myself in a position to make choices. Do I surrender my will for His? Do I allow my flesh to be crucified and so relinquish my preference or choice? I wish I could say I always make the right choice.

The fact is, the word surrender is probably the best way to describe what it means to be a Christian. Stop for a moment to think about how being a Christian is exemplified in your own life. It’s not about breaking bad habits, it’s about surrendering our ways of life to conform to His. It’s not about being good, it’s about surrendering our choices to conform to His. It’s not even about living up to a certain expectations, it’s about surrendering our right to be who and what we are in order that we take on His identity. Being a Christian is losing oneself — one’s own identity — and becoming one with Christ.

When Paul wrote the famous words, “for me to live is Christ,” he wasn’t merely saying that his goal and purpose in life was Christ. Rather, as Spurgeon wrote, “his life itself was Jesus. In the words of an ancient saint, he did eat, and drink, and sleep eternal life. Jesus was his very breat, the soul of his soul, the heart of his heart, the life of his life.”

That is a big goal to press toward. While the world demands to be noticed and personal rights and demands met by society and governments, the true believer is willing to lose his identity and give up his temporal rights in order that he may be identified with Christ. While the throngs march in boastful protest in order to be recognized as a unique segment of population and afforded benefits and recognition, the true believer is cutting his ties to this world in order that his citizenship is secured in Heaven.

Many believers achieve surrender to some degree or another, but anyone being honest with themselves will quickly admit that there are areas tucked away in the recesses of the heart where little foxes (Song 2:15) remain locked up and secure against the concept of surrender. This “secret place” is where the Spirit of God longs to enter and loose those foxes and cleanse any remnant left behind. After all, as we claim to live for Christ, we must be willing to let go of all that is not of Him, from Him, or that which failes to glorifies Him.

Will we live wholly for Christ? Only we can answer that question. Surrender isn’t easy and it will sorely tresspass into our comfort zones. Are we willing to open the gate and let Him become wholly ours? Are we ready to live the true life of a Christian where our source, sustenance, fashion, and purpose are gathered up in one word — Christ Jesus?

Lord, accept me; I here present myself, praying to live only in thee and to thee. Let me be as the bullock which stands between the plough and the altar, to work or to be sacrificed; and let my motto be, ‘Ready for either.’

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Note: Based on C.H. Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening: Daily Readings for January 7