The Surrendered Life
I have been crucified with Christ .
. . —Galatians 2:20
To become one with Jesus
Christ, a person must be willing not only to give up sin, but also to surrender
his whole way of looking at things. Being born again by the Spirit of God
means that we must first be willing to let go before we can grasp something
else. The first thing we must surrender is all of our pretense or
deceit. What our Lord wants us to present to Him is not our goodness, honesty,
or our efforts to do better, but real solid sin. Actually, that is all He can
take from us. And what He gives us in exchange for our sin is real solid
righteousness. But we must surrender all pretense that we are anything, and
give up all our claims of even being worthy of God’s consideration.
Once we have done that,
the Spirit of God will show us what we need to surrender next. Along each step
of this process, we will have to give up our claims to our rights to ourselves. Are we willing to surrender our
grasp on all that we possess, our desires, and
everything else in our lives? Are we ready to be identified with the death of
Jesus Christ?
We will suffer a sharp
painful disillusionment before we fully surrender. When people really see
themselves as the Lord sees them, it is not the terribly offensive sins of the
flesh that shock them, but the awful nature of the pride of their own hearts
opposing Jesus Christ. When they see themselves in the light of the Lord,
the shame, horror, and desperate conviction hit home for them.
If you are faced with the
question of whether or not to surrender, make a determination to go on through
the crisis, surrendering all that you have and all that you are to Him. And God
will then equip you to do all that He requires of you.
(Taken from Oswald Chambers – “My Utmost For His Highest” March 8)