The Surrendered Life
“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”—John 12:24
One cannot be a Christian without being broken. We must come to the end of ourselves before we can receive the gifts Christ has to offer. We cannot come with any self-sufficiency, self-righteousness, or semblance of good that we believe we can offer God. In order to follow Christ we have to die to ourselves—our goals, purposes, dreams, way of life, way of understanding, and who we believe we are. Everything must be given over to Him, because we cannot bear the fruit God desires without doing so. As Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” It is only when we die to ourselves that God will use us. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “When Jesus bids a man, He bids him come and die.” To follow Christ means giving up everything, even our lives. Christ gave His life so that we might have abundant life now and eternally. As Jim Eliot, the missionary, who was martyred for his faith in the in mid-twentieth century said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep in order to gain what he cannot lose.”
God wants everything—no exceptions. A surrendered life is a blessed life. And when we do give everything—we get everything—abundant life in Him. Amen.
One cannot be a Christian without being broken. We must come to the end of ourselves before we can receive the gifts Christ has to offer. We cannot come with any self-sufficiency, self-righteousness, or semblance of good that we believe we can offer God. In order to follow Christ we have to die to ourselves—our goals, purposes, dreams, way of life, way of understanding, and who we believe we are. Everything must be given over to Him, because we cannot bear the fruit God desires without doing so. As Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” It is only when we die to ourselves that God will use us. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “When Jesus bids a man, He bids him come and die.” To follow Christ means giving up everything, even our lives. Christ gave His life so that we might have abundant life now and eternally. As Jim Eliot, the missionary, who was martyred for his faith in the in mid-twentieth century said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep in order to gain what he cannot lose.”
God wants everything—no exceptions. A surrendered life is a blessed life. And when we do give everything—we get everything—abundant life in Him. Amen.
Jim Elliot also said, "Forgive me for being so ordinary while claiming to know such an extraordinary God."
ReplyDeleteMay God richly bless you and give you much eternal fruit from your efforts for Him.