SURRENDER YOUR LIFE
And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice— the kind He will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship Him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
Romans 12:1-2 (NLT)
In biblical times, sacrifices were a regular occurrence. Some of this is lost on us because that’s not the world that we live in now. Probably, as you’ve read in the Old Testament, you’ve come across burnt offerings or grain offerings or the types of animals to be sacrificed and very specific instructions for how to do so. Thank God that the sacrifice of His Son stands good for all time, as the writer of Hebrews points out in Hebrews 10:11-12 (NLT): Under the old covenant, the priest stands and ministers before the altar day after day, offering the same sacrifices again and again, which can never take away sins. But our High Priest offered Himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then He sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand.
So, while we don’t have to sacrifice a ram or a bird or anything like that today, we are still called to make a sacrifice: our lives and bodies. We give ourselves to God because He gave Himself for us. To surrender the totality of who we are to Him is our true act of worship. What good is singing a song in service on a Sunday with your eyes closed and hands lifted if you’re not actually worshipping Him as Lord of your life in your day-to-day?
So how do we do this? We let Him transform the way we think. This means we will often be out of step with what culture says. That’s okay—we should think and act differently from those around us who have not been transformed by the Spirit. We study His Word and determine to obey what He has ordained, even if that’s directly at odds with the popular thinking of our day.
APPLICATION: Is there any part of your life that you’ve been holding back from God? He doesn’t want 90% surrender—He wants all of you—your thoughts, words and deeds. Consider what you may be withholding from King Jesus and then ask Him to help you bring it under His authority.
PRAYER: Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against You in thought, word and deed by what we have done and by what we have left undone. We have not loved You wholeheartedly; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and humbly repent. In Jesus’ name, amen.
“… Our Father in heaven…” Matthew 6:9b (NLT)
- What do You want to say to me today as my Father?
“… may Your name be kept holy.” Matthew 6:9c (NLT)
- What do You want to reveal to me about Your power today?
“May Your Kingdom come soon.” Matthew 6:10a (NLT)
- Help me make Your priorities my priorities today.
“Give us today the food we need,” Matthew 6:11 (NLT)
- Is there anything specific You want me to do with my time or the people I’m around today?
“and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us” Matthew 6:12 (NLT)
- Reveal to me anyone I need to forgive or ask for forgiveness.
“And don’t let us yield to temptation…” Matthew 6:13a (NLT)
- Is there anywhere I’m vulnerable to temptation?