Everything and Nothing Less

Surrender; to cease resistance, submit to authority, and abandon oneself entirely to another.

This is not a word that comes easily to us in 2016. In this age where we boast in independence, applaud “identity”, and spend billions of dollars to improve who?

MYSELF!

To surrender means that we can’t do this on our own, it means we don’t have all the answers, it means that we are not good enough! What kind of self-respecting, self-reliant, self-promoting ‘merican would admit to that?!

UHH…ISN’T THAT THE PROBLEM?!

Few things seem to entice a whiplash effect quite like saying “You can’t do this on your own”, those simple words are the fuel to a fire that rages in the human heart, a fire that cannot be quenched by achieving worldly success, wealth, and possessions. It’s a fire that burns on the embers of pride, wrenching on the heart, twisting the mind, while the child inside screams

YES I CAN!

Soon enough, that child comes out, crawling on hands and knees, parched, dry, exhausted, searching for a single drop of water, that single bit of hope to quench the thirst that this pride, this quest for self-sufficiency, has stoked within the belly of the weak.

There is a love, there is a hope, there is a peace that can fill this gap, a strength that can quench this thirst, and can knit together the heart of the broken.

That Love…Is…Jesus

James 4:7-10 say’s…

⁷ So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸ Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. ⁹ Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.

I wish this weren’t so hard for me, for you, for us. I wish this would come naturally. However it seems to defy the very nature of who we are as humans. We want to do it on our own, we want to have what we want, when we want it, we want to let our pride lead us through this world. But we must not rely on what we want, we must look to what we NEED.

There is one true peace and that true peace comes through one path, and that path is Surrender to Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

Resist the Devil, draw close to God, wash your hands, purify your hearts, repent of your sin and humble yourself before the Lord. Surrender everything to him, Everything and Nothing Less!