I Surrender!

The white flag is up! Time to let go. Time to give up whatever we’ve been holding back and allow Jesus to use it for His glory.  What is that for you? I can think of many things over the years I’ve held onto thinking I can control them better if I do. How about you?

Are you holding on to any of these?:

• job
• children
• spouse
• other relationship
• finances
• fear
• failure
• unfogiveness
• life purpose
• loss
• selfish will
• time
• gifts, talents and abilities
• personal plan
• what would you add?

I wonder if we hold because we think we can do a better job than the “King of the World” can! Really? Is that what I’m indicating by holding on to what is rightfully His?

Can you hear Jesus’ Words to His disciples in Luke 14:26-27?: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters — yes, and even his own life — he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” (Hate, here, means loving anyone more than Jesus. Carrying His cross means laying our life down to live for Him.)

What does that mean if I want to be His disciple? Follow Jesus in EVERYTHING? Give Him all I have and all I am?  All to Jesus I surrender…I surrender all?

YES!

In John 6, Jesus took all a little boy had that day to eat (5 loaves and 2 fish) and multiplied it enough to feed 5000+ people who hungered for the Words of Jesus as well as hungered physically. It wasn’t much to hand Jesus. Surely it couldn’t do any good. Surely the problem was way too big for this little offering.

YES! It was a small offering and YES, it was enough.

A former director of mine at LifeWay, where I worked 22 years, taught on this John 6 passage one day and I’ll never forget his point: there’s nothing to big that God can’t handle it and there’s nothing to small that God can’t use it. That point has stuck with me ever since.

You may think you have very little to offer Jesus. Maybe you think what you have to surrender is too big for Him to handle.

May I encourage you today to wave the white flag of surrender and give it ALL to Him? He’s big enough to handle your most difficult situation or deepest hopes. And no matter how small the offering you think you have to give Him (like your gifts and abilities), in His hands it’s enough to accomplish His purpose.

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Banner photo by  Julian Jagtenberg through Stocksnap