The heart of worship is surrender.
Surrender is an unpopular word, disliked almost as much as the word submission. It implies losing, and no one wants to be a loser. Surrender evokes the unpleasant images of admitting defeat in battle, forfeiting a game, or yielding to a stronger opponent. The word is almost always used in a negative context. Captured criminals surrender to the authorities.
In our competitive world we're taught to never quit trying, never give up, and never give in - so we don't hear much about surrendering. If winning is everything, surrendering is unthinkable. Yet, the Bible teaches us that rather than trying to win, succeed, overcome, and conquer, we should instead yield, submit, obey, and surrender. And by surrendering to God, we enter into the heart of worship. This is true worship: bringing pleasure to God as we give ourselves completely to him.
Surrendering is best demonstrated in obedience, cooperating with your Creator. You say "Yes, Lord" to whatever he asks of you. In fact, "No, Lord" is a contradiction. You can't claim Jesus as your Lord when you refuse to obey him. Peter modeled surrender when, after a night of failed fishing, Jesus told him to try again: "Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets." Surrendered people obey God's word, even when it doesn't make sense.
God is not a cruel slave driver or a bully who uses brute force to coerce us into submission. He doesn't try to break our will, but woos us to himself, so that we might offer it freely to him. God is a lover and a liberator, and surrendering brings freedom, not bondage.
When we completely surrender ourselves to Jesus, we discover that he is not a tyrant but a savior; not a boss, but a brother; not a dictator, but a friend.
Worship: Offering Yourself to God
Offering yourself to God is what worship is all about. This act of personal surrender is called many things: consecration, making Jesus Lord, taking up your cross, dying to self, yielding to the Spirit.
What matters is that you do it, not what you call it. God wants your life, all of it - 95 percent is not enough.
Several things block our total surrender to God:
- Our ignorance of God - not knowing what he's really like
- Our sinful nature - the desire to be God ourselves
- Our misunderstanding of surrender and the trust that it requires
Can We Trust God? Trust is an essential ingredient to surrender. We won't surrender to God unless we trust him, but we can't trust him until we know him better. Fear keeps us from surrendering, but love casts out all fear. The more you realize how much God loves you, the easier surrender becomes.
How do I know God loves me? He gives us many evidences:
God says he loves you (Psalm 145:9)
You're never out of his sight (Psalm 139:3)
He cares about every detail of your life (Matthew 10:30)
He gave you the capacity to enjoy all kinds of pleasure (1 Timothy 6:17b)
He has good plans for your life (Jeremiah 29:11)
He forgives you (Psalm 86:5)
He's patient with you (Psalm 145:8)
He sacrificed his Son for you (Romans 5:8)
God loves you infinitely more than you can imagine.
"Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship" (Romans 12:1 HCSB).
If you want to know how much you matter to God, look at Christ with his arms outstretched on the cross saying, "I love you this much! I'd rather die than live without
Thank you for that! I feel like every time i read these, i have needed it that day! God bless you girl...and thank you so much for that. You are a blessing to this group!
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Jeremiah 29:13
- FL1908
on May. 13, 2010 at 10:48 AM