January 20, 2010

Surrender and Submit to the Savior!

Commit your way to the LORD – Psalm 37:5

Committing is surrendering our lives to the will of God in humble reliance and obedience to Him. When we commit our ways to the Lord, we say, Lord I not only believe in you but I want to demonstrate that belief in action. To believe is “staying in the brain level” but to commit is “coming down to the heart level.” Belief can be a gained knowledge but committing to the Lord lets us gain experience as well. It is like telling the doctor that I am not only here to visit you based on your reputation to cure by illness, but to submit myself to the medication that your prescribe and the willingness to undergo the needed treatment under your care. In Psalm 37 verses 3-5, David encourages us by saying, “Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this.” See the progression from David’s advice, first, “Trust”, then “Delight” and just do not remain in those two things alone but to benefit your own lives, “Commit.” If you want God to be in action, you better act quickly and that is what David teaches us to do. We also read in Proverbs 16:3, “Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.” The secret of success is that to have the “touch of God” in all our efforts. Someone said, “Instead of taking a pencil and a paper to work out your plans, give the same to God and ask Him to do so for your life.” When hard times hit Job, his friend, Eliphaz respond to him and suggests, “Submit to God and you will have peace; then things will go well for you. Listen to His instructions, and store them in your heart (Job 22:21, 22).” During challenging times, the best thing to do is to submit to the will of God and commit to Him and be at peace with patience. When anxiousness strikes us, it is important to follow the course of action suggested by Apostle Paul in Philippians 4:6, 7 where he says to those having troubled situations, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus (NLT).” Also, committing to God is the act of obedience to His words and believing in His promises. A. W. Tozer said, “The Bible recognizes no faith that does not lead to obedience, nor does it recognize any obedience that does not spring from faith. The two are opposite sides of the same coin.” Do we commit our lives to the will of God in obedience to Him?

There was a world-renowned tightrope walker, who did incredible aerial feats. All over Paris, he would do tightrope acts at tremendously scary heights. Then he had succeeding acts; he would do it blindfolded, then he would go across the tightrope, blindfolded, pushing a wheelbarrow. A rich American Businessman read about this in the papers and wrote a letter to the tightrope walker, saying, "Tightrope Walker, I don't believe you can do it, but I'm willing to sponsor your trip to the US and make you an offer. For a very substantial sum of money, besides all your transportation fees, I would like to challenge you to do your act over Niagara Falls." Now, Tightrope Walker wrote back, "Sir, although I've never been to America and seen the Falls, I'd love to come." Well, after a lot of promotion and setting the whole thing up, many people came to see the event. Tightrope was to start on the Canadian side and come to the American side. Drums roll, and he comes across the rope which is suspended over the treacherous part of the falls -- blindfolded!! And he makes it across easily. The crowds go wild, and he comes to the American Businessman and says, "Well, Mr. Businessman, now do you believe I can do it?" "Well of course I do. I mean, I just saw you do it." "No," said Tightrope, "do you really believe I can do it?" "Well of course I do, you just did it." "No, no, no," said Tightrope, "do you believe I can do it?" "Yes," said Mr. Businessman, "I believe you can do it." "Good," said Tightrope, "then you get in the wheel barrow." The man simply refused to go!

What was the Businessman’s problem? Did he really believe that this tightrope walker could take a man across? No, he did not. At brain level, he agreed that it was possible, and professed to believe; but when it came to the crunch, he did not really believe. What are the areas we are unwilling to step in? Faith means giving us into the hands of the tightrope walker and getting into the wheelbarrow. It means putting our lives into the hand of Jesus Christ.

What areas do you need to trust Him? If you believe that God is wise, and good, and able, you will not have to worry about anything. See this is what Paul’s perspective in Philippians 4:6. If you believe God will come one day to judge the world, you will not rattle to take revenge on someone who did harm to you and your reputation. If you believe obedience come by faith in Jesus, you will refuse the other beliefs that obedience comes from imposing law. If you believe that you have a status as a child of God (John 1:12), you will not sweat, seek for status and reputation in this world and allow God’s time for these blessings come to you according to His will.

The word, “believe,” in Greek means "to live by". How often do we say that we believe Christ can do it, but refuse to get in the wheelbarrow?

All to Jesus, I surrender; All to Him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust Him, In His presence daily live.

I surrender all, I surrender all,
All to Thee, my blessèd Savior,
I surrender all.

All to Jesus I surrender; Humbly at His feet I bow,
Worldly pleasures all forsaken; Take me, Jesus, take me now.

All to Jesus, I surrender; Make me, Savior, wholly Thine;
Let me feel the Holy Spirit, Truly know that Thou art mine.

All to Jesus, I surrender; Lord, I give myself to Thee;
Fill me with Thy love and power; Let Thy blessing fall on me.

Prayer: Father, forgive my unwillingness to surrender and submit myself to your will even though I believe in you. Help me to not to worry about my future but to hold on to the One who holds my future. I know you will lead me till the end. In Jesus Name, Amen!