JAMES DAY 30 - I Surrender All

DAY 30
I SURRENDER ALL
Mark 14:35-36

Growing up, we sang “I Surrender All” at least once a month in church. I grew tired of it. It was always part of an appeal for non-Christians to become Christians. “We’d better invite more sinners to church,” I often thought!

But surrender to Jesus is not just for soon-to-be-Christians or new Christians. It’s for all of us. We always need to surrender and re-surrender to Jesus Christ. We often claw a little bit of control back.

What might that look like for you? 

If you’re young, say 30 and under, American culture urges you strive for more: dream big and hustle hard! More money, more house, more job. How about more submission? Is all that hustle giving you more peace within and making you more considerate of others? Or do you agitate for more? You’ll save yourself a load of heartache and debt if you learn early that Striving stops where submission starts. 

What about us parents? Some of us are striving for a scholarship or the perfect school. Maybe we’re just striving to keep up with all the stuff every other parent offers - or should I say “forces?” - on their kids. After all, what kind of parents will we be if we don’t run ourselves ragged to “give them every opportunity?” What if we submit our parenting to Jesus? How about submitting our all to help our kids to personally know Jesus?

What about those of us in midlife? Maybe you feel a fresh surge of striving when you compare your life to other people’s so-called successes. That fight inside can spark a lot of discontent. That fresh surge of envy can drive us to conflict and massive life change for the worse - or we can submit our struggle to God and find new purpose.

And what about those in later life? Maybe some of you regret missed opportunities. Others turn bitter with envy. Others determine to live it up, to finally soak up all the pleasures they put off until the golden years. Why not surrender the regret and the envy and let the joy of the Lord be your strength?

If you feel agitated inside, if you’re often bickering with other people, maybe it’s time to ask: what have I left unsurrendered to Jesus?  

That’s success. That’s happiness. Who is wise among you? Who’s got it together? Who’s happy and successful? Jesus. I wanna be like him. I want what he has. All we have to do is surrender.

REFLECT
James ends this section by challenging us to submit ourselves more fully to God. In a few words, in what area of life do you need to more fully surrender to Jesus?

PRAY
All to Jesus I surrender, / Make me, Savior, wholly Thine; / Let me feel Thy Holy Spirit, Truly know that Thou art mine. / I surrender all, I surrender all; / All to Thee, my blessed Savior, / I surrender all.