In her book Brokenness, Surrender, Holiness (a
compilation of three books), Nancy Leigh DeMoss writes,
“Our
will was opposed to [God’s] will. We were intent on going our own
independent way, and as a result, were estranged from the God of the
universe. Even when the Spirit opened our eyes to recognize our
rebellious condition, we may have sought a way to bring about peace
apart from surrender. We did not want to continue suffering the
unpleasant consequences of our resistance, but neither did we want to
lay down our arms. Then the message was sent to our hearts: There
can be no peace until you are willing to accept My
terms—unconditional surrender.”
And
yet even when we have made a decision to surrender to Christ’s
lordship, we often try to take it back later. We still desire to have
control over our own lives. “I’ll surrender the parts I don’t
like, but this part is still mine to do with as I please!” DeMoss
shared what Josef Tson identified as a “shift from the call to full
surrender, to the call to
commitment.”
“Christian
surrender means that a
person lifts his or her hands and says to God, ‘Here I am; I
surrender; You take over; I belong to You; You dispose of me!’ But
this is America, the country of the independent people! This is the
place of ‘Nobody should command me! … I belong only to myself! A
call to surrender, and even more, to full surrender, simply doesn’t
go well with such people. Therefore, the preachers… hit on the word
‘commitment.’ You see, commitment
means ‘I engage myself to do something for you.’ or, even
lighter, ‘I promise to do something for you,’ but I remain myself
and I may keep my promises or not...
“[Bible
translators] did not like the term ‘bondslave’ to be applied to
people. Who wants to be somebody else’s slave? Therefore, they
replaced it with ‘servant.’ Again, a reflection and demand of the
independent spirit! In the Greek, ‘slave’ is doulos;
‘servant’ is diakonos.
In the Greek Bible one never, never diakoneo
to God—one never serves
God; one only douleo
to God—that is, one slaves
to God.”
Many
people have made some commitment to God, but their absence of any
meaningful participation in the Body of Christ is one indication that
they never surrendered to Him. And all of us need to surrender again
and again as God reveals areas in our lives that we’re still
holding on to. Just today I was reminded that if I want to be
conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29), I must surrender my
all rights over my life and my choices. I am no longer my own, for I
was bought with the blood of Christ (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
Therefore anything that stands in opposition to His lordship must be
given over to His control. “Put off your old self, which belongs to
your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,
and… put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true
righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:22, 24 ESV).
Tson
is correct that we in America don’t want to surrender to anyone.
July 4th is known as Independence Day, but no one who belongs to
Christ is truly independent. Actually, every living being is
dependent on God, but Christians are the only ones who acknowledge
our dependence on Him and willingly surrender to His control. Will we
do so again today and tomorrow and every day to come?
“Father,
I abandon myself into Your hands; do with me what You will. Whatever
You may do, I thank You: I am ready for all, I accept all. Only let
Your will be done in me, and in all Your creatures—I wish no more
than this, O Lord” (Charles de Foucauld).
“I have been crucified with
Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And
the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God,
who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).
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©
2019 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright
free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect
the views of my church or employer.
