Reading 6 – Fiday, December 11, 2020
Surrender
By P. Hunger, Argentina / USA
When you hear the phrase “I surrender all,” surely the memory of a melody comes to your mind. “I Surrender All” is a hymn written by Judson Van De- Venter and sung today in several languages.
Born on December 5, 1855, in Michigan, USA, Van DeVenter became a teacher and art supervisor in the public schools of Pennsylvania, as well as an active musician at his local church. Seeing his talents, his friends encouraged him to dedicate himself fully to evangelistic work. For five years, a conflict raged within his mind and heart between continuing as a teacher or dedicating himself to the work of evangelization. Judson himself said: “For some time, I had struggled between developing my talents in the field of art and going into fulltime evangelistic work. At last the pivotal hour of my life came, and I surrendered all. A new day was ushered into my life. I became an evangelist and discovered down deep in my soul a talent hitherto unknown to me. God had hidden a song in my heart, and touching a tender chord, He caused me to sing.” (Hawn, Michael. “History of Hymns – I Surrender All.” DiscipleshipMinistries. com. https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-i-surrender-all (accessed May 31, 2020)). Judson shared the good news of the gospel in the United States, as well as in England and
Scotland, carrying words of hope with his messages and songs.
We are reaching the end of 2020, a year full of events that are clear signs that the end is very near. From the beginning of the year 2020, we saw one disaster follow another: fires, earthquakes, the Coronavirus plague, wars, crises in the global economy, famine, tornadoes, and more. Thousands of people lost their lives during these end-time events. Just as Van DeVenter’s friends urged him to serve God, the Lord invites us to surrender everything and thus save both our lives and the lives of those around us. It is time to make a decision and proclaim the good news to a world deep
in darkness.
The Lord tells us: “My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways.” (Proverbs 23:26, AKJV). The Lord not only wants to bless us, give us peace, and guide us in the new year, but also invites us to place ourselves into His hands, so that we completely surrender ourselves to His service.
Befriend God and Pay Your Vows
God’s call is this: “Acquaint now yourself with Him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come to you. For then shall you have your delight in the Almighty, and shall lift up your face to God. You shall make your prayer to Him, and he shall hear you, and you shall pay your vows.” Job 22:21, 26, 27 AKJV.
There are two sides struggling for the heart of man: Jesus and Satan. On the one hand, Satan offers us a plethora of diversions and pleasures. However, he also causes disasters that lead to destruction and death. On the other hand, Jesus shows us a different path, one that leads to eternal life. A half-hearted surrender will not give us the freedom we need from the hands of Satan. Only when we decide to give ourselves completely to God’s guidance will we experience peace through forgiveness and freedom from the chains of sin. This total surrender is linked to a commitment to serve God. The text says to “pay your vows.” What are these vows? These are none but the vows of loyalty and service. The problem with the integrity of the church is in the idea that, for many, Christianity means adding Christ to our lives, but not distancing ourselves from sin. In other words, it is a change of thoughts but not behavior. True Christianity means total
surrender to God; and this implies revival and reformation, a complete and total change in our interests and activities.
Josef Tson, a Romanian pastor and former president of the Romanian Missionary Society who survived years of persecution and exile under a cruel Communist government, was once asked about his perception of American Christianity. Josef said that the key word in today’s Christianity is “commitment.” But then he added that this is not correct. “As a matter of fact,” he said, “the word commitment did not come into great usage in the English language until about the 1960s.… When a new word comes into usage, it generally pushes an old word out. I began to study and found
the old word that ‘commitment’ replaced – the word ‘surrender.’
“What is the difference between commitment and surrender? When you make a commitment, you are still in control, no matter how noble the thing you commit to. One can commit to pray, to study the Bible, to give his money, or to commit to automobile payments, or to lose weight. Whatever he chooses to do, he commits to. But surrender is different. If someone holds a gun and asks you to lift your hands in the air as a token of surrender, you don’t tell that person what you are committed to. You simply surrender and do as you are told.… [People] love commitment because they are still in control. But the key word is ‘surrender.’ We are to be slaves to the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Cheong, Christian. “Commitment vs. Surrender.” SermonCentral.com. https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermon-illustrations/81687/commitment-vs-surrender-by-christian-cheong, accessed May 31, 2020).
In reality, Josef Tson’s perception can be seen worldwide. Many only adopt the name of Christians, but in their lives there is no total surrender to the transforming power of the Gospel. Where is the transformation of lives by the power of God? Where is the recognition of sin and the turning away from evil? Where is the consecration to the service of the Lord? True Christianity is not a sentimental, social, or ecumenical commitment, as is seen in our world today, but a total surrender to the will of God.
“When Jesus heard this, He said to him, ‘You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.’” Luke 18:22 NIV. The rich young man thought he lived a life committed to God, but his heart was not devoted to service. To sell everything is to surrender totally into the hands of God. We no longer live for ourselves.
I don’t know what God tells you is missing from your life, but today is the time to “sell” your own sense of righteousness and your earthly idols, and share the joy of this change, the eternal treasures, with those who do not know God. We Can’t Be Divided The Psalmist tells us: “Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with their whole heart. With my whole heart I seek You; let me not wander from Your commandments!” Psalms 119:2, 10 ESV.
God has given us the freedom to choose which path to follow, and He will never force our steps. He wants us to look for Him with all our hearts. Blessed is he who gives himself wholly to this direction, for he will find true happiness.
“No repentance is genuine that does not work reformation. The righteousness of Christ is not a cloak to cover unconfessed and unforsaken sin; it is a principle of life that transforms the character and controls the conduct. Holiness is wholeness for God; it is the entire surrender of heart and life to the indwelling of the principles of heaven.” –The Desire of Ages, p. 555.
Serving with the Entire Heart and Soul
“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.” Deuteronomy 10:12, ESV.
When the heart rejoices in the Lord, it will rejoice in serving others. The Christian serves not out of obligation, but because his life continues to grow when he sees others happy. Carrying a message of hope not only gives strength to those who are tired and burdened by the difficulties of life, but also gives joy and strength to the messenger to continue doing his best for the Master.
To make a total surrender is to live a life of agape love that the Lord Jesus taught us about. He gave everything, even His own life, to save us, without expecting a reward. He did it simply because He loves us. “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13 BSB. To make a total surrender is to surrender ourselves, our own desires,
our tastes, to serve our neighbors.
This is living agape love. This is why Jesus repeated the thought again in Matthew 22:37, ESV: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”
God is faithful. It is true that if we give ourselves completely to Him, we will experience certain losses and/ or disadvantages. However, the Lord knows what each of us needs, because He is the one who has given each of us the gift of life. God will not allow anything necessary to be lacking. “Behold, today I am going the way of all the earth, and you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one word of all the good words which the Lord your God spoke concerning you has failed; all have been fulfilled for you, not one of them has failed.” Joshua 23:14, NAS.
“I give up!”
In the early 1960s, the editors of Time Magazine were concerned about declining sales. Hoping to boost subscriptions, they designed an advertising campaign that would mail out offers to a large number of potential readers. At that time, the IBM computer was just being introduced into the business world. Excited to make use of cutting-edge technology, the magazine’s marketing directors coordinated with IBM to create an automated program to send out the ads. However, as is common with computers, a technical glitch occurred. As a result, one surprised farmer in Wyoming received 12,634 subscription offers to Time Magazine. The farmer, who usually received almost no mail, read one letter after another, each advertising the identical offer. After skimming through a
few dozen ads, he wrote out a check for the $6 subscription fee and sent it to Time Magazine with a handwritten note saying, “I give up.”
The year 2020 was full of messages from God for you, calling to you with tender love. You are still alive only by the mercy of the Lord. Make 2021 an opportunity to serve God. Surrender
all your talents and strength to the service of the Lord, and prepare for His soon coming. God bless you!
Amen