Thursday, January 14, 2010

Surrender



"...Give yourselves to God...
surrender your whole being to
Him to be used for righteous
purposes." Romans 6:13




The heart of worship is surrender.

Surrender is an unpopular word, disliked almost as
much as the word submission. It implies losing, and
no one wants to be a loser.

Surrender evokes the unpleasant images of admitting
defeat in battle, forfeiting a game, or yielding to
a stronger opponent. The word is almost always used
in a negative context.

In our competitive world we're taught to never quit
trying, never give up, and never give in - so we don't
hear much about surrendering. If winning is everything,
surrendering is unthinkable.

Yet, the Bible teaches us that rather than trying to win,
succeed, overcome, and conquer, we should instead yield,
submit, obey, and surrender.

And by surrendering to God, we enter into the heart of worship.
This is true worship: bringing pleasure to God as we give ourselves
completely to Him.

Surrendering is best demonstrated in obedience, cooperating with your
Creator. You say, "Yes Lord" to whatever He asks of you.

You can't claim Jesus as your Lord when you refuse to obey Him.
Surrendered people obey God's word, even when it doesn't make sense.

God is not a cruel slave driver, or a bully who uses brute force to
coerce us into submission. He doesn't try to break our will, but woos
us to Himself, so that we might offer it freely to Him. God is a Lover
and a Liberator, and surrendering brings freedom, not bondage.

When we completely surrender ourselves to Jesus, we discover that
He is not a tyrant but a Savior; not a boss, but a brother; not a
dictator, but a friend.

~Rick Warren~

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