All to Jesus I surrender,\/All to Him I freely give.\u202f.\u202f.\u202f.<\/p>\n
More like the Master I would ever be . . .<\/p>\n
Trust and obey, for there\u2019s no other way\/to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
You\u2019re probably familiar with these lyrics. We sing them with reverence and good intentions. However, I\u2019m not certain I\u2019m always focused on the words of the songs.<\/p>\n
Of course I want to be like Jesus; He was perfect<\/em>! He was praised of God: \u201cThis is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased\u201d (Matthew 3:17). Since Jesus is the quintessential standard, He\u2019s the one I want to be like.<\/p>\n But . . . am I really <\/em>ready to surrender all to make that happen?<\/p>\n I would love to heal the sick and raise the dead, to discern the thoughts and hearts of those around me. Oh, if I could just tap into the will and the power of the Father! It would be awesome to be like Christ. As a Christian, I\u2019m supposed to make that my aim.<\/p>\n But then, there\u2019s that pesky little four-letter word that trips up my carnal heart every day: obey<\/em>.<\/p>\n As the Son of God, Jesus was perfect and righteous; He was also obedient<\/em>. One could say that He was perfect and righteous because He was obedient<\/em> (Hebrews 5:8, 9). He did nothing, said nothing that was not directly of the Father (John 12:49). Obedience is more than a checklist of do\u2019s and don\u2019ts. It\u2019s more than a regimented, formulated, calculated life of routines. Obedience begins in the heart and is born of a spirit of humility and a willingness to surrender all our goals and aspirations, our pride, our reputation, our calendar. All of our life.<\/p>\n I have a lot to learn about obedience. For example, I\u2019m struck by how little time I devote in prayer and Bible study. Not knowing the intimate details of others\u2019 schedules, I\u2019m loath to assume everyone is as lax as I. However, I\u2019ve noticed that many Christians seem to have little time for fellowship, corporate Bible study, or any church-sponsored community service. \u201cI\u2019m too busy\u201d is the frequent, and often real, excuse.<\/p>\n But obedience is more than a scheduling conflict. Often our lack of obedience and surrender stems from a heart conflict. Unwittingly, we tell God, in so many words, \u201cI\u2019ve given you X number of hours or X amount of my heart. This is Your portion, and no more. The rest is mine.\u201d But Jesus wants more than our time; He wants our love<\/em>. Keeping His commandments manifests our love (John 14:15).<\/p>\n You know how Jesus\u2019 earthly story ended. Though He lived a perfect life and never sinned, He was not hailed as the holy Son of God. He was nailed to a cross as a criminal. And He let it happen. <\/em>The apostles also faced gruesome deaths as a result of their attempts to be like Jesus.<\/p>\n As Christ\u2019s followers, we\u2019re admonished to \u201ccount the cost\u201d (Luke 14:28), probably because surrender comes at a price. It may not cost us our physical lives; then again, it may. In any case, Jesus asks for our lives \u2014 our all.<\/p>\n Lord, help us learn to willingly surrender ourselves \u2014 our whole selves \u2014 completely to Your perfect will. More than just singing a song, let us really surrender all. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" All to Jesus I surrender,\/All to Him I freely give.\u202f.\u202f.\u202f. More like the Master I would ever be . . . Trust and obey, for there\u2019s no other way\/to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey. You\u2019re probably familiar with these lyrics. We sing them with reverence and good intentions. However, I\u2019m […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":273,"featured_media":4803,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","castos_file_data":"","podmotor_file_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[161,1335,109,104,131,134,808,76,883,133,1336],"yoast_head":"\n