Surrender. It is a word that goes against the natural grain of our lives and generally has negative connotations. We don’t like to give up; we don’t like to quit; we don’t like to lose. Militarily surrender means defeat; in a game surrender means loss; in certain situations, surrender means it’s over. It is being out of control and giving control to another; it is admitting we can no longer be in control; it is agreeing to and voluntarily releasing control. Surrender. This is what the Lord calls us to do – to surrender our lives to Him. However, in surrendering to Christ, we do not lose, but we gain. Jesus said: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul” (Mark 8.34-36)?
In salvation, in calling Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord, we are to surrender to Him. This is not negative; it is not defeat; it is not loss. Rather, surrendering to Christ gives us life; surrendering frees us to be the person He has called us to be; in surrendering we are freed from the bondage of sin and the flesh; in surrendering we are enabled to live in righteousness; in surrendering we are given a new purpose in life, one that has rich fulfillment and satisfaction; in surrendering we move from the deadness of sin to the gracious gift of new life in Christ; in surrendering we look forward to eternity in the presence of the eternal God. There is no true fulfillment in gaining the world, in mustering large portfolios of money or increasing the world’s offers of “stuff and things.” None of this is lasting and will all be left behind. Surrendering to Christ gives life, hope, and purpose; surrendering is what Christ did in giving His life on the Cross for our salvation. May we vigilantly determine to hold nothing of this world tightly, but rather to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, “the founder and perfecter of our faith.”
In surrendering to Jesus Christ – we have much to be thankful for –
Terry Burlingame
My Morning Desk 