time to surrender
Today’s Scripture
And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Romans 12:1 (NLT)
Big Idea
Choosing to surrender everything to God is the beginning of an incredible r12 Christian life.
Today’s Thought
You may already have your driver’s license. If not, you’re dreaming of the day when you’ll be permitted to legally sit behind the wheel of your car, truck, SUV, or minivan and head out onto the road. Your parents have the same dream — but they might describe it as a nightmare.
But you won’t get very far if you never put the key into the ignition and turn it. It’s the first step in your driving journey.
How about your spiritual journey? Have you put the key into the ignition? Are you headed in the right direction?
Last week, you embarked on this journey with your friends in your small group and on your own with this devotional. The journey of exploring and understanding true spirituality will be much richer and more meaningful if you’ve made an important decision: surrendering everything to God.
The process of becoming an r12 Christian starts when we make the decision to follow Jesus and receive the gift of salvation. (Check out page 87, where we give you all the details on how to make that awesome decision!) But that’s just the beginning. God is going to continue to work inside your life until — well, until the end of your life! We are all imperfect people who have the opportunity to become more like Jesus.
When we make the decision to become living sacrifices, as Paul talks about here in Romans 1, it’s a commitment to surrendering everything to God and becoming an r12 Christian. We give God our lives, and we devote ourselves to honoring Him with every area of who we are: our choices, our hobbies, our friendships, our goals, our values, our ambitions, our dreams, our free time, and every other piece of our lives.
That sounds like a lot, right? But living for God this way is the start of an amazing life!
Prayer
God, thanks for how much You love me and desire the best for my life. Help me to surrender everything to You. It sounds pretty scary and intimidating, because I like being in total control of my life. But I know enough about You to know that you have even better plans for my life than I could imagine. Thanks for the work You are doing in my life. Amen.
Day 7
surrender begins with an attitude
Today’s Scripture
I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!Philippians 3:7-11 (NLT)
Big Idea
Your attitude opens the door to total surrender to God.
Today’s Thought
Athletes know the truth of this simple statement: "Attitude is everything." If it’s snowing on the football field, you still go out there with a winning attitude. If you’re facing a team on the volleyball court that has won the state championship three straight years, you still go out and play hard as a team. If you’re swimming for the first time since being sidelined by an injury, you still jump into the pool and compete with excellence.
Your attitude can make the difference.
This week of devotions is built on the idea of fully surrendering our lives to God. Paul displayed this kind of life, and you see his attitude in today’s passage from Philippians 3. He knew what mattered in life — and what didn’t matter. He discarded all the junk of this world and gave everything to God. That’s surrender, backed up by the right attitude. Being surrendered means aligning our motives, plans, goals, and resources to achieve a specific task, accomplish a certain mission, or follow a particular person — in this case, God!
Having the right attitude toward surrender means wearing the right pair of sunglasses in life. Think of it this way: If you wear a pair with "negative" lenses, you’ll see surrender as something to avoid because it’s all about self-denial and martyrdom and giving up all fun. But if you choose "positive" lenses, you’ll see that surrender is wisely recognizing that God has better plans and dreams for our lives than we do!
Sometimes we’re afraid of surrender because we think it means life will be boring. But people who are totally committed to Jesus realize heaven is real, God is in control, God is calling the shots, God is good, and God will give us His very best when we do life His way.
God will accomplish incredible things in you and through you once you choose total surrender. It’s part of God’s strategy to make us like His Son… an r12 Christian.
Prayer
God, I need Your help with my attitude at times. It’s so easy to think I’m the person that matters most in this world. Help me see things the way You see them. Help me discover more and more how much You love me and how You want the best for my life, and then help me to surrender everything to You. Amen.
Day 8
surrender can be difficult
Today’s Scripture
Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?Mark 8:34-37 (NLT)
Big Idea
God wants you to leave your selfish ways behind you.
Today’s Thought
Me. Me. Me.
Did you realize that no one ever has to teach 2-year-olds how to say "me" or "mine"? It’s just something every young child seems to automatically absorb, know, and understand. And we let them get away with it — to a degree — because they’re, well, kids!
As we get older, we’re supposed to learn how to share and get along with the people around us. But it doesn’t always happen. We all enjoy being selfish. It’s pretty easy to do, and our culture doesn’t really discourage us from pursuing selfish dreams and desires.
God wants us as r12 Christians to experience a surrendered life, but it can be tough for us because it means sacrificing our spot as the most important person in our lives.
Surrender requires us to develop a lifestyle with God in first place. Surrender requires us to think about others instead of just focusing on our own needs. Surrender requires us to appreciate the gift of salvation we’ve received but willing share that good news with others, too. Those are choices we make as we move forward with becoming mature followers of God.
And that’s why surrender can be difficult.
Remember what Romans 12:1 said? Paul was talking about Christians becoming living sacrifices — total surrender to God. It would be easier to offer ourselves as dead sacrifices because we would no longer have any say! But
being a living sacrifice means we have to continuously choose to surrender. It isn’t a one-time event; it’s a lifestyle.
Prayer
God, I want my life to be more about You and less about me. It’s such a huge struggle, but I know it brings incredible rewards. Would You please help me today? I want to surrender the stuff that keeps me from becoming more like You. I need to focus more on You and others, and less on myself. I know that as I do this, You will continue to meet all my needs and provide and care for me in every way, and I thank You for that. Amen.
Day 9
surrender is worth the cost
Today’s Scripture
"The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field.
"Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant on the lookout for choice pearls. When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought it! Matthew 13:44-46 (NLT)
Big Idea
When you consider the benefits of surrendering to God, it becomes an easier decision.
Today’s Thought
Quickly — if you learned about a treasure that would turn you into a billionaire for the rest of your life, would you do everything possible to get your hands on it?
You probably answered yes — unless you thought you were being set up for failure, like a character in yet another
God doesn’t promise that He will make all of us billionaires, but He does promise to make our lives meaningful and blessed and significant as we become r12 Christians. And the promise of Heaven is a great treasure we can desire and pursue.
In these two brief parables from Jesus, we find people eager to sacrifice and surrender because they recognize the great reward that awaits them. One man found treasure in a field; he gladly sold all his stuff to buy the land and claim the treasure. The other guy finds an incredibly valuable pearl; he willingly auctioned off his possessions on eBay so he could purchase the gem.
These were easy sacrifices to make. Both men happily surrendered what they owned so they could attain life-changing treasures. Because these were parables, Jesus was attempting to teach his audience — and us — a deeper truth.
Jesus revealed that it’s logical, smart, and wise to surrender everything to
God. And the heart of totally surrendering depends on our view of God — is He really good or not? Psalm 84:11 tells us that God withholds no good thing from people who are living right and following His ways. When we recognize how good and great and wonderful God is, we discover that surrendering is a reasonable sacrifice — just as Paul talks about it in Romans 12:1. Surrender truly is worth the cost.
Prayer
God, thanks for the truths You’ve placed in the Bible. Thanks for letting Jesus teach us through stories that help us understand You more clearly. I pray that You would help me pursue You and Your values and Heaven with greater passion in my life. Help me surrender all the stuff in my life, which ultimately doesn’t matter. Help me to surrender my life, too. I want to serve and follow You with everything I have. Amen.Pirates of the Caribbean or National Treasure sequel.
Day 10
your life won’t be the same once you surrender
Today’s Scripture
"The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life."
John 10:10 (NLT)
Big Idea
God knows what He’s doing when He asks you to surrender everything.
Today’s ThoughtThink of the most valuable, precious, important gift you’ve ever received. Picture it right now — or look at it, if it’s in your room right now. One night you have a dream in which God tells you to sacrifice this valuable gift. He doesn’t give you a whole lot of details.
Perhaps you could obey. After all, it’s just a thing. It’s just a possession. But what if God asked you to sacrifice a family member you deeply loved? Crazy thought!
When God told Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac in Genesis 22, it was the ultimate test of faith. At the age of 75, Abraham had obeyed God and moved from his homeland to Canaan, part of what became Israel. About 10 years later, God told Abraham he would have a son and would become the father of a great nation. And about 15 years after that, Isaac was born — the fulfillment of God’s promise.
Wow. That’s a long time to wait! And now God tells Abraham to sacrifice Isaac? What was God thinking?
Surrendering everything to God means stepping back from the controls and giving up the driver’s seat for your life. Is that risky? Sure! But you aren’t surrendering your life to some random stranger or a person bent on your destruction. You’re surrendering your life to the God who created the universe, who knows every detail of who you are, who loves you more passionately than anyone else in your life, and who wants you to spend eternity in His presence.
Abraham obeyed God. He was prepared to surrender and sacrifice Isaac. And at the last moment, God provided a ram to sacrifice instead. Abraham’s faith and trust in God shone brilliantly in that moment.
As John 10:10 tells us, Jesus wants your life to be rich, satisfying, and meaningful — exactly the opposite of what Satan wants for you. Your life won’t be the same once you surrender everything to God.
Prayer
God, I want to surrender everything in my life to You. I don’t totally know what that means right now or how You might ask me to obey down the road, but I want You to be in charge of all that I am and all that I have. I want the rich, satisfying, meaningful life You’ve promised to give. Amen
