I Surrender All

Surrender is not easy, Lord, but You ask us to surrender our lives to You daily. Help me learn how to live daily for You.

Luke 9:23 “And He [Jesus] was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.”

Surrender is often seen as a bad thing because we only see it as God making us give up something. But if you surrender your self to God and let Him be the Lord of your life then He promises blessings in return. This does not mean that we will always be happy and live a great life, but that as we live less for ourselves and more for Him we will experience true joy and satisfaction that only come through obedience. Jesus tells His disciples in Luke 9 that to be a true follower of Christ we all have to pick up our cross and follow Him. Back in that time, a cross was a symbol of death.  It was used to bring about a gruesome and painful death to everyone who acted against the Roman government.

Even though no one is nailed to a cross today, Jesus still calls His followers to die to themselves. What does that mean? It means we give up living the life we are living for “self” and the “flesh” and invite Jesus into our life to transform us, to make us more like Him. Jesus is calling you to make some sacrifices. God knew that surrender would be hard, so He made sure that we knew it would have to be a daily process for us, giving up what we think is best in exchange for what God knows is best. What is standing in the way of your having an intimate relationship with Jesus? Surrendering will not be easy, but neither was carrying a cross. Here’s a little secret. Yes, God calls us to do something really hard by surrendering to Him, but He also promises to be there every step of the way!

What is hindering your relationship with God? How do you spend a lot of your time?

How would surrendering these things help you grow your relationship with God?

How can you start seeing surrender as the good thing it is?