Surrender ALL

 We all know this hymn. We’ve heard it in church, from our grandparents or even in the movies. It is one of the most famous hymns of our culture. Let me ask you a question though. How many times have you really listened to the words of this sweet hymn? Look at these verses in detail…

            All to Jesus I surrender;

            All to him I freely give;

            I will ever love and trust him,

            In his presence daily live.

            I surrender all; I surrender all;

            All to thee, my blessed savior,

            I surrender all.

            All to Jesus I surrender;

            Humbly at his feet I bow,

            Worldly pleasures all forsaken;

            Take me Jesus, take me now.

            All to Jesus I surrender;

            Make me, Savior, wholly thine;

            Fill me with thine love and power;

            Truly know that thou art mine.

            All to Jesus I surrender;

            Lord, I give myself to thee;

            Fill me with thy love and power;

            Let thy blessing fall on me.

            All to Jesus I surrender;

            Now I feel the sacred flame.

            O the joy of full salvation!

            Glory, glory, to his name!

Worldly pleasures all forsaken; I will ever love and trust him; take me Jesus, take me now; make me, Savior, wholly thine. These words are no laughing matter. We’re talking about some pretty heavy things that we’re offering and claiming to give Him when we sing these lines.

Are we though? Are we doing what we say we are? Are we truly surrendering our ALL? Let’s think about that for just a minute. What exactly does all look like? Well, for starters, let’s look at Jesus. He gave his all didn’t he? He gave his entire life for us. Personally speaking, I don’t think that one would really be too hard to do if we had to. I know that I for one don’t particularly want to die, but if it came right down to it, I think I can safely say that I would be willing to lay my life down for him. I mean, it would be easy to give up something if it meant we would instantly be in paradise with Him as opposed to struggling down here, right? Think of it this way, would we hesitate before jumping in front of a bullet for our child(ren)? No, of course not. So, I think it’s pretty safe to say that even though it’s not on the top of our list of things we want to do for Jesus, it’s one that we could more easily than not sacrifice for him if it came right down to it. What about giving up something that we like, enjoy or hold dear to our hearts? What about living without something? Could we as easily do that?

What about your spouse, your kids, your finances? What about your money, your home, your job? What about your time, the food you eat, whether or not you exercise, your books, your TV shows? What about your trust, your worry, your worldly pleasures? Have I hit a nerve yet? I know that I have for me. This whole surrender thing was something that I thought I had nailed down pretty good. God had worked with me on surrendering my husband, my children, my finances and even my trust. I thought I had let Him have total control of ALL the “tough” areas of my life. That is, until I asked Him to give me more of Him. Let me prewarn you. If you ask God for something, you had better be ready to get blindsided and shocked with His answer. Sometimes He’ll give you what you ask, sometimes He won’t, other times He’ll give you what you need for His purposes instead; and then there are those times where He asks you a question. That’s what I got; a question. “Lord, I want more of you. I want all of your gifts and blessings. I want you to fully use me for your purposes” God’s response to my plea was, “Why do you want me to give you more of Me, when you aren’t willing to give me more of you.”

Did that one hit you as hard as it hit me? It was a “right between the eyes” kind of moment for me. My initial response was, of course, to get defensive with God. (I know, I know. I’m still His kid sometimes) “Now wait a minute here! What are you talking about, God? What do you mean ‘more of me’? I’ve given all that I am to you, Lord! I’ve made you the Lord of my life. I’ve given you what is most precious to me. I even trust You and try not to worry about tomorrow.” Then He answered me with the kicker. “What about my temple? You want me to use you for My purposes, but are you taking care of the temple I gave you so that I can use it?” Now, some of you might be health gurus who love to eat healthy and work out regularly. I am not one of you. I am not terribly overweight, but I am no where near where I want, or should, be. I don’t eat badly, but I do eat and I do love food. I hate sweat and do NOT like to exercise, (though I will admit it feels pretty good afterwards, it’s just the “act of” that I don’t like). So, God began to remind me, if you will, of what I had asked of Him. I would hear Him in my head with each bite of food. “Are you eating this for me, or because you want it?” “Is that to feed my temple, or is it for selfish desires?” Now, you tell me. When you start hearing things like that in your head every time you eat something, could you still eat that last bite of your kids’ leftover cookie? It did get somewhat annoying, but I was getting the point. We have but one body. God has given us this body as a temple for our spirits to do His will. We are called to honor God with our bodies. Doesn’t that mean that we should take care of it? Yeah, that one was not one of my favorite things to have to be confronted with. Needless to say, I am still working on surrendering fully to this one, but I am taking steps in the right direction by eating better, making better choices, eating less and yes, even exercising. (Feel free to hold me accountable here as I slip up sometimes too.)

I can hear all you exercise junkies now. I already take care of my temple, you say. Great! I am so glad you don’t have to stretch yourself in that area. Trust me, it is not a fun one to get stretched in, but what about your time? Are you focused on you, or Him? What about your choice in TV shows or movies? Are you watching something that would offend Jesus if he was sitting on the couch next to you, after he died on the cross for your sins? What is it that you have been holding onto in that deep dark place. What are you white knuckling that is so hard for you to hand over? If you are like me and have something that you don’t realize you are clinging to, then ask God to reveal that to you. If you know what it is, then pray and ask God to help you let Him have it. Trust me, He will. He’s waiting for you to. He wants to bless your life; abundantly. He desires and promises to bless you, but He is waiting. He is waiting for you to surrender ALL of you. Surrender it to Him. He loves you. He loves you so much that He lavished His love on you. Surrender all of you so that He can bless you with all that He has for you. Read these lyrics one more time. Take the time to read them for what they really are saying, and then let’s pray together.

            All to Jesus I surrender;

            All to him I freely give;

            I will ever love and trust him,

            In his presence daily live.

            I surrender all; I surrender all;

            All to thee, my blessed savior,

            I surrender all.

            All to Jesus I surrender;

            Humbly at his feet I bow,

            Worldly pleasures all forsaken;

            Take me Jesus, take me now.

            All to Jesus I surrender;

            Make me, Savior, wholly thine;

            Fill me with thine love and power;

            Truly know that thou art mine.

            All to Jesus I surrender;

            Lord, I give myself to thee;

            Fill me with thy love and power;

            Let thy blessing fall on me.

            All to Jesus I surrender;

            Now I feel the sacred flame.

            O the joy of full salvation!

            Glory, glory, to his name!

 

Father,

We come before Your throne, humbled and broken. You held nothing back from us, Lord, and yet we still cling to our own fleshy, selfish desires. Forgive us, Father, for our disobedience and selfishness. Show us those deep dark corners of our hearts that we have tried to keep hidden from You. Let what is in our darkness be brought into Your light. Help us to let go, Lord. Help us to fully surrender all that we are, and all that we have, over to You. Give us the courage and strength  to surrender our ALL to You, Lord. Thank you, Jesus, for surrendering all of you for our sins, just because You love us. Thank you for that love and grace and mercy. Thank you, Lord, for showing us where we are weak and giving us the strength and courage to persevere through it. Thank you, Father, for blessing us and for lavishing Your love on us. We thank you for these things and cover this prayer, in the sweet name of Jesus.

Amen