Surrender part 2
"All to Jesus... I surrender..." Good sentiment. Good song. I don't think we REALLY get it though. I still think we treat God as a "break glass in case of emergency" kind of last hope when we get ourselves in too deep. That's the problem though. We're not surrendering ALL at all. We're doing it ourselves until we screw it up to the point where we need a savior. And listen, I'm not saying God won't help you out of a mess. Of course He will. What Father wouldn't? I'm simply talking about a more excellent way. Instead of using prayer as last chance, we ought to use it as first choice. I haven't quoted my favorite Bible verse in a while but this is a good chance: "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17). See, God doesn't want to be a PART of our life. He wants to BE our life because He IS life! It's not about waiting for an emergency. It's about being conscious of Jesus--God in the flesh, love in a body--with every breath we take and every move we make. It's about a LIFESTYLE of prayer, rather than using God like a genie in a bottle that we only rub when we want something. Jesus is the Alpha and Omega, right? First and last? Beginning and end? But He's also everything in between. I think it's funny when we interpret Scripture (and I do this too, so I'm not trying to put anyone on blast) that we see things in the Bible as anything BUT Jesus. It's all Him. Every Word in every verse in every chapter in every book of the Bible. He IS the Word of God. And, really, that's the only way the Bible makes sense. There's some wild stuff in there that only makes sense if you see Jesus in it. The Old Testament is Jesus concealed, and the New Testament is Jesus revealed. It's all Him. History is HIS story. What I'm trying to get it, in my own rambling way, is that the idea of surrender has to be total and complete. Just as the idea of identification has to be total and complete. It's not Jesus AND me. It's Jesus AS me. He lives in me and I live in Him. I and my Father are One. Let me say it another way, "Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass" (Psalm 37:5). Get God involved from the jump. Those who are led by the Spirit are the Son(s) of God, right? You can't be lead if you're trying to go your own way. Trying to do it yourself. Walking it OUT is not the way. Walking IN it IS the Way, because Jesus is the Way (and the Truth, and the Life)! It's like we think of grace as either the rug we sweep sin under in order to avoid punishment (which is ridiculous) or we think of grace as the power to keep the Law (which is equally ridiculous). Grace is the divine influence on the heart, and it's reflection in the life. Grace is God's heart beating with love in our chests. Grace is found in the EYES of the Lord. And when we look in the mirror and see Him face to face we don't die (like everyone in the Old Testament thought they would). We see the glory of God and are changed into that same image from glory to glory! Not by trying to be more glorious, or more holy, or more righteous. But by marking the perfect man and seeing our perfection in Him. HIS perfection in us! Guys... rest is not, "Once I finish the work I can rest." Rest is, "JESUS finished the work, and now I can enjoy the fruit of HIS labor." It's not about you. It's about Him. It's not about what you do. It's about what He did. It's about who He is. In you. Who you are. In Him!