Romans 6:13 – “Neither yield ye your members an
instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as
those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of
righteousness unto God.”
The heart of worship is surrender.
Surrender, a
very unpopular word that is disliked similar to the word submission. It implies losing, and no one wants to be a loser.
Surrender is often associated with admitting your defeat in battle, forfeiting
a game, or yielding to a stronger opponent.
In this competitive world, it’s all about winning and to
surrendering is unthinkable. We would rather talk about winning, succeeding,
overcoming, and conquering than yielding, submitting, obeying, and
surrendering. But surrendering to God is the heart of worship. It is the
natural response to God’s amazing love and mercy. We give ourselves to him, not
out of fear of duty, but in love.
Offering yourself to God is what worship is
all about.
After spending eleven chapters of the book of Romans
explaining God’s incredible grace to us, Paul urges us to fully surrender our
lives to God in worship. True worship-bringing God pleasure-happens when you
give yourself completely to God.
This act of personal surrender is called many things:
consecration, making Jesus your Lord, taking up your cross, dying to self,
yielding to the Spirit. What matters is that you do it, not what you call it.
God wants your life-all of it. 95% is not enough.
There are three barriers that block our total surrender
to God: fear, pride, and confusion. We don’t realize how much God loves us, we
want to control our own lives and we misunderstand the meaning of surrender.
Can I trust God?
Trust is an essential ingredient to surrender. You won’t surrender to God
unless you trust him, but you can’t trust him until you know him better. Fear
keeps us from surrendering, but God’s love casts out all fear. The more you
realize how much God loves you, the easier surrender becomes.
How do I know God loves me? Well, God’s greatest
expression of love for me was when He sent His Son, Jesus Christ to die on the
cross of Calvary. God does not try to break our will, but woos us to himself so
that we might offer ourselves freely to him. God is a lover and a liberator,
and surrendering to him brings freedom, not bondage. When we completely
surrender ourselves to Jesus, we discover that He is not a tyrant, but a
saviour; not a boss, but a brother; not a dictator, but a friend.
Admitting our
limitations, pride is a second barrier to surrendering. The desire to be in
charge is the cause of stress in our lives. Life is a struggle, but most people
don’t realize that it is our struggle with God.
We want to be the god of our lives, to have things our way, to do
things on our own strength and becomes
so hard to just say a simple prayer to God, asking for His guidance and wisdom.
In such a situation, there is no way of winning.
Many people are
still troubled, still seeking and making very little progress forward because
they still haven’t reached that point in their lives where they have
surrendered their all to God. They are trying to control what does not belong
to them: themselves. (A.W. Tozer)
We aren’t God, and we never will be. We are humans. We
accept our humanity intellectually, but not emotionally. When faced with our
own limitations, we react with irritation, anger, and resentment. We want to be
taller (or shorter), smarter, stronger, more talented, more beautiful, and
wealthier. We want to have it all and do it all, and we become upset when it
doesn’t happen. When we compare ourselves with others, we respond with envy,
jealously and self-pity.
What it means to
surrender. Surrendering to God is not passive resignation or and excuse for
laziness, it is not accepting the status quo. It may mean the exact opposite:
sacrificing people to do battle on his behalf. Surrendering is not for cowards
of doormats. It does not mean giving up rational thinking. God would not waste
the mind He gave you! God does not want robots to serve him.
Surrendering is not about changing who I am to be suitable
for God, because God wants to use me just as I am.
“The more we let God
take us over, the more truly ourselves we become-because He made us. He
invented all the different people that you and I were intended to be…. It is
when I turn to Christ, when I give up myself to His personality, that I first
begin to have a real personality of my own.” C.S.Lewis
Surrendering is best demonstrated through obedience. We
cannot call Jesus, our “Lord” and yet not obey Him, that is a direct
contradiction of our belief. People who are surrendered to God, obey His will,
even if it doesn’t make sense to our human minds. For God’s ways are not our
ways, neither are His thoughts that of ours.
How do I know that I am surrendered to God? This is when you
find yourself to become absolutely reliant upon God to work things out, rather
than you trying to manipulate others and force your agenda or control the
situation. Let go and let God work. Sometimes we don’t have to be in control.
Sometimes, just sometimes, we need to let God take over. Instead of trying
harder, you trust more. You also know that you have surrendered when you don’t
react to criticism and rush to defend yourself, because you know that God is on
your side, and He is the one that will defend you. Surrendered hearts show up
best in relationships. You don’t edge others out, you don’t demand your rights,
and you aren’t self-serving when you’re surrendered.
Most people find money a difficult area in their lives to
surrender. Many want to live for God and a comfortable life simultaneously and
eventually retire. But retirement is not the goal of a surrendered life because
it competes with God for the primary attention of our lives.
Jesus is the most supreme example of a surrendered life, He
gave His all. He obeyed the will of the Father and prayed that God be
glorified, even unto His death. This form of maturity does not come easy. In
Jesus case, he agonized so much over God’s plan that he swear drops of blood.
Surrendering is hard work, for us it is an intense warfare against our
self-centred nature.
The blessing of
surrender. With surrendering comes the peace of God, then freedom in God
and finally you experience the power of God in your life. Stubbornness and
temptations and overwhelming problems can all be defeated by Christ.
Victory comes through surrendering. Surrendering to God does
not weaken you, it strengthens you. Surrender to God, you don’t have to fear or
surrender to anything else.
“The greatness of a man’s power is in the
measure of his surrender”
(Willliam Booth,
Founder of the Salvation Army.)
The best way to live.
Everybody eventually will surrender to something or someone, one way or
another. If not to God, you will surrender to the opinions or expectations of
others, to money, resentment, fear or even to your own pride, lusts or ego. We
were designed to worship God, and if we fail to worship him, we will end up
creating other things to give our lives to. We are now at liberty to choose
what to surrender to, but we are not free from the consequences of the choice.
“If you don’t
surrender to Christ, you surrender to chaos” (E. Stanley Jones)
Nothing is more powerful than a surrendered life in the
hands of God. surrendering your life is
not only the BEST way to live; but the ONLY way to live. Your wisest moments in
life will be when you say yes to God.
sometimes it takes years, but eventually you discover that the greatest
hindrance to God’s blessings in your life was not others, but you and your own
self-will, stubborn pride and personal ambition. You cannot fulfil God’s plan
for your life, while focusing on your own plans.
Point to ponder: The heart of worship is surrender
Verse: Romans 6:13
Question to consider: What area of my life am I holding
back from God?
(A Purpose Drive Life by Rick Warren)
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