[ecko_quote source=" Matthew 11:28-30"]Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My Yoke Is easy and My burden is light[/ecko_quote]
In the light of our previous devotion “The impossibility of Christian life,” the fundamental thing that we have to do is surrender our lives so that Christ can live in and through our lives. Surrender is not the surrendering of the external life, but of our will; when that is done, all is done. There are very few crisis in life; among which the great crisis is the surrender of our will willingly. God never crushes a man’s will into surrender. He never beseeches him; He waits until the man yields up his will to Him. That battle never needs to be refought.
Surrender for deliverance “Come unto Me and I will give you rest”. We begin to experience what salvation means only after we surrender our will to Jesus for rest. Whatever is perplexing your heart or mind is a call to the will- “Come unto Me”. It is a coming that is done voluntarily.
Surrender for Devotion- “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself”. The surrender here is of ourselves to Jesus i.e. our own selves with His rest at the heart of it. “If you would be My disciple, give up your right of yourself to Me.” Then the remainder of the life is nothing but the manifestation of this surrender. When once the surrender has taken place we won't need to think of "suppose" for anything. We do not need to care what our circumstances are or would be; Jesus is amply sufficient.
Surrender to death (John 21:18-19) …” Another shall gird thee” Have you learned what it means to be bound for death? Beware of a surrender which you make to God in an ecstasy; you are apt to take it back again. It is a question of being united with Jesus in His death until nothing ever appeals to you that did not appeal to Him.
After surrender – What? Christ lives in us. The whole of the life after surrender is an aspiration for unbroken communion with God.
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 blessed Saviour, I surrender all.
Source: Pastor Jonah Ravinder; The Utmost for His Highest – Oswald Chambers.
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