surrender

“When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” Mark 8:34

This week I received a great question from someone about Surrender and what it actually means I thought I would share my response:

Sorry it’s taken me a bit to get back to you. I am glad you enjoyed Door of Hope. In regard to Surrender it is important to remember that we are not submitting our lives to an ideology but an actual personality. Neither is it a feeble attempt to lay aside our desires but receiving from Christ His desires. I would say that according to Jesus, surrender is coming to a place in life where He becomes ultimate. Where we are not seeking Him for what we can get from Him, but because His will (that is His wants) is our deepest desire. Jesus is not a cosmic Killjoy who neither robs us of our desires nor is He a cosmic Santa Claus who gives everything we ever thought we wanted. I would say that surrender is when we recognize that life is not about us but Him, and He in return gives us life, which is better than anything else we could have asked for. God does care about the minutia of our lives but we must first gauge whether our relationship with Him is in place. He will never give us anything that would hinder His relationship with us. Bringing us into communion with Himself is His primary concern. It is only then He can effectively use us.

Let us deny the lies of what we think is best for us and come alive in Him who is True and faithful. Surrender to Jesus is the only place we will find freedom from the tyranny of the flesh.