Our Lord replies to this statement of Peter by saying that this
surrender is “for My sake and the gospel’s” (10:29). It was not for the
purpose of what the disciples themselves would get out of it. Beware of
surrender that is motivated by personal benefits that may result. For
example, “I’m going to give myself to God because I want to be delivered
from sin, because I want to be made holy.” Being delivered from sin and
being made holy are the result of being right with God, but surrender
resulting from this kind of thinking is certainly not the true nature of
Christianity. Our motive for surrender should not be for any
personal gain at all. We have become so self-centered that we go to God
only for something from Him, and not for God Himself. It is like saying,
“No, Lord, I don’t want you; I want myself. But I do want You to clean
me and fill me with Your Holy Spirit. I want to be on display in Your
showcase so I can say, ’This is what God has done for me.’ ” Gaining
heaven, being delivered from sin, and being made useful to God are
things that should never even be a consideration in real surrender.
Genuine total surrender is a personal sovereign preference for Jesus
Christ Himself.
Where does Jesus Christ figure in when we have a concern about our
natural relationships? Most of us will desert Him with this excuse—”Yes,
Lord, I heard you call me, but my family needs me and I have my own
interests. I just can’t go any further” (see Luke 9:57-62). “Then,” Jesus says, “you ’cannot be My disciple’ ” (see Luke 14:26-33).
True surrender will always go beyond natural devotion. If we will
only give up, God will surrender Himself to embrace all those around us
and will meet their needs, which were created by our surrender. Beware
of stopping anywhere short of total surrender to God. Most of us have
only a vision of what this really means, but have never truly
experienced it.
No comments:
Post a Comment