Total Surrender

Would you give up everything? Your family? Your closest friends? The comfort of life that you experience each and every day? Your greatest dreams? Your salvation? Would you give it all up if He asked? Very few of us have had to give up everything, but the question is not have you surrendered it all, but are you willing to?

"I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh." -Romans 9:1-3

We know that Paul had a heart for the lost and the broken. After being converted on the road to Damascus he spent the rest of His life sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with anyone who would hear, and planting churches that would nourish and encourage new believers. He had such a great "sorrow and unceasing anguish" in his heart that he was willing to have his very salvation taken away that he might see others come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

I could lose my friends, family, comfort, and life for the sake of the gospel. It would be difficult, but by God's grace I believe I could. But to lose my Saviour, my only source of strength and sustenance, the fountain from which flows the grace that would enable me to give up everything else; I could not wish to lose Him. I could not wish to be cut off from Christ, even if I were offered the whole world.

"For what does it profit a man if he gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul?" -Mark 8:36-37

Would I willingly lose my soul so that another person might come to Christ? Would you? My heart cries out in protest, my spirit that rests in the Spirit of God is not willing to be stripped from its life source. The Lord asks if I am willing to give Him my all, and my answer cannot be, "Yes, I will give you everything, but..." Each day is a struggle, but I pray that my desire might be for a heart that so fully recognizes the immeasurable value of a relationship with Jesus Christ, and is so filled with His love for humanity that I would be willing to give up that relationship if it meant that someone else would gain it.

O for a heart to serve my God

A heart that's ever broken to His will

Oh for a heart to serve my God, my King

A heart that's ever delighting him