Two words that don’t come easy for most of us—surrender and sacrifice. If they do come easy to you, please let me know how you do it! During the last month I’ve had one of these two words pop up in every devotion, every Bible study and almost every message or sermon I’ve heard. So I keep asking, “God, what are you trying to tell me?”
Last weekend in Fargo, North Dakota I had the honor of meeting and praying with a woman who made a first time decision for Christ. As she came to the altar at this Living Proof Live event, she walked straight to me and said, “I surrender…I surrender…I surrender. I can’t do this on my own and I’m tired of trying. I need Jesus. I surrender everything to Jesus.” It was an overwhelming moment as I listened to her story and all that she was struggling with (and had been struggling with for years)…and all without Jesus.
Surrender-to give oneself up, usually to the power of another, to submit or yield to them. Like this woman in Fargo, I remember that day when I surrendered my life to Christ. I was much younger, but understood and knew that I didn’t want to be the one in control. I knew I couldn’t do this life by my own power or wisdom.
As the years continue moving ahead there are certain seasons of life when I catch myself taking back those things I surrendered to Jesus. Because to surrender means that I lay at the altar those things I control, own, desire, dream, long for—they become my sacrifice to God.
In my month of “surrender and sacrifice” devotions I’ve come across 1 Samuel 1:1 about four times. Hannah promises to give her son back to the Lord if He will just give her that son. God shows favor to Hannah and acts on her behalf. And then Hannah follows through on her vow to the Lord and returns her son to the temple to live and serve the Lord. What a sacrifice! Hannah came to God with nothing. God gives her exactly what she longed for most in life and she returns that gift. She gives back that which means everything to her. Why? Because in the end she is a woman of integrity. And as much as she loves her son, Samuel, Hannah loves God most of all.
When we surrender our lives to God, we also choose to sacrifice. We will lay anything and everything on the altar before God as a sacrifice, to demonstrate our surrendered life to Him.
What do you need to surrender to God today? What do you need to lay upon the altar as a sacrifice to Him? I’m thinking of several things in my own life and I hear the words of my new friend in Fargo echoing in my head…
“I surrender…I surrender…I surrender. I can’t do this on my own and I’m tired of trying. I need Jesus. I surrender everything to Jesus.”
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