Fully surrendered

Romans 12:1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

What does God want from you more than anything? Does He want your money? Your time? What is it that He’s after? The answer can be summed up in one word, and you may not like it. God wants YOU. He wants all of you.

Some genuine Christians who have trusted in Christ as their Savior have never made the decision to surrender their lives to His lordship. They have not turned over their lives to Him in complete abandon. But this is what He calls every believer to. He doesn’t expect us to receive salvation and then go on living our lives as usual. No, a disciple is one who puts aside their own desires in exchanges for Christ’s.

But some will never do this because they think the cost is too high. They think they’ll have to give up too much. Maybe this is you. Maybe you think handing over a blank check to God is terrifying because you don’t know what He’ll do. You fear that surrender to His will means He’ll make you marry someone you don’t love or He’ll send you to Africa. But the truth is, when you surrender, you gain His desires in your own heart. You want what He wants. It’s no longer about what you have to give up, but about what you gain.

Have you fully surrendered your life to God, Christian? Are you a disciple or just a believer who thinks life is about your own happiness? God doesn’t care for lukewarm Christians (Revelation 3:16), so we should all pay attention when He says to present ourselves as living sacrifices. That means something…and it’s not optional.