Are we living a surrendered life?

To surrender is normally associated with giving up the fight and allowing the opponent to take the victory. It also suggests there may have been a difficult battle with two opposing sides.

This is very true in our lives. The god of this world has blinded our eyes and because of original sin, the battle lines have been drawn. There is an ongoing battle between good and evil, which we get caught up in.

The first part of surrender is accepting Jesus as our Lord and saviour. This is simply responding to God drawing us.

No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. – John 6:44.

While we continue to walk as a new creation in Christ, further surrender is part of our journey. Giving up the things which entice us, distract us, or the things we’re told we need in this world, is an act of surrender.

When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 35 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. – Mark 8:34,35. 

We have to make the conscious choice to deny the sinful things of this world and to give ourselves only to God. We can do this because we have been set free and we now live under grace.

Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. 13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. – Romans 6:12-14.

Living a surrendered life, is recognising that God has a greater plan for us than we could ever achieve. Our desires become truly secondary as we accept it is no longer us, but Christ living in us that matters

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. -Galatians 2:20.

The more we surrender our lives to God, the more we are transformed and our old sinful nature is replaced by God’s perfect nature. So in the words of the old hymn, we say today:

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