I SURRENDER ALL

One of the best-known English hymns of all time is “All to Jesus I Surrender.” This hymn brings out very well the meaning of surrender and purpose of it.

• “All to Jesus I surrender, All to Him I freely give; I will ever love and trust Him, In His presence daily live.[Refrain] – I surrender all, I surrender all. All to Thee, my blessed Saviour, I surrender all.”

The concept of surrendering ourselves to God is one of the oldest themes in the Bible. Surrendering ourselves to God is the most important of all key factors that we will find in all the great men and women of God recorded in the Bible. The same can be said about all the great men and women of God all through the history.

• “As Christians, we submit our imperfect wills and plans and entrust them to our perfect and loving God. Surrender always involves trust. It means that even when we can’t see what’s happening or why, we trust that God’s plans are better than ours–even when it hurts. We willingly say, “I don’t know what you’re doing, God, but I’m going to trust you and get out of your way.” – Cara Ray

Many people find the word “surrender” very difficult. When we are full of ourselves and our own ideas, then, surrender becomes not only difficult, but almost impossible. The reason? There is no room left for God in our lives, when so full of ourselves.  

Surrendering ourselves fully and wholely is the only way for a fallen and lost sinner to find the LORD Jesus’ grace, mercy and forgiveness. Unless we are washed in the blood of the LORD Jesus shed for our redemption on the cross of Calvary, there is no forgiveness of our sins.

• “It is wonderful what miracles God works in wills that are utterly surrendered to Him. He turns hard things into easy and bitter things into sweet. It is not that He puts easy things in the place of the hard, but He actually changes the hard thing into an easy one.” – Hannah Whitall Smith

Surrendering ourselves to the LORD Jesus is an ongoing process. It is not a mere one-time event. As long as we are in this body of “flesh” there exists the possibility of we committing sin. The only way out and the only remedy is to fall at the feet of the LORD Jesus and seek His grace, mercy and forgiveness over and over again all through our lives.

• “20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” – Galatians 2:20
• “5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.” – Proverbs 3:5-6

Surrendering to God is not becoming a puppet in the hands of God. This is one of the gravest misconceptions that people have. Surrendering ourselves to God is to yield ourselves, all that we are, and as we are, so that God can work on us and help us become fruitful and blossom to our full as was originally intended by God our Creator, before we lost it all because of our sin and our rebellion.

• “1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” – Romans 12:1-2

Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, our surrender to the LORD Jesus, our all, becomes imperative. How about making a fresh surrender to the LORD Jesus of all that we are, this morning? Let us be honest and transparent with Him as we surrender ourselves. What is the meaning and the purpose of our surrender to the LORD Jesus if we are not honest and transparent about all our struggles and sin? Let us come to God sincerely, honest and transparently and surrender ourselves totally to Him. What is entrusted to the LORD’s care will be taken good care of. In no time we will see the start of blossoming buds in our lives. Even so the LORD help us.