If you are spending time reading "Purpose Driven Life" and reflecting on the various Bible readings quoted in the text, you will be up to day 10 today - if not, take it out and read day 10 NOW, then come back to this blog.
The heart of worship is SURRENDER! Who hasn't heard that before. Yet I found myself in deep and considered reflection on the nature and extent of a surrendered life to God. The reminder today that surrender is best demonstrated in obedience and trust sounds so simple, almost 'cliche', and yet indeed it is the heart of our worship of God. The connection made with Jesus prayer in the garden on that night before he died on the cross for the sin of the world, is confronting and thought changing. As I sat at my desk this morning, reflecting on the devotional reading and the bible texts associated, I was drawn into a fresh and new read of this significant passage from God's Word. "Do what you want father, not what I want." (Mark 14:36). I read this familiar passage with a new sense of resolve. So many Easter messages had I heard from this text, so many had I preached myself and yet God spoke afresh into my life - and I heard the call of God come to me again; surrender your life.
Rick Warren writes of two aspects of SURRENDER. The moment and the practice. For me, the moment of surrender was when I was 13 years old and I heard the call of God to surrender my life to the LORDSHIP of Jesus Christ. This call was clear and the implications were life changing. I saw God work instantaneously in my life and in the lives of those around me. Over the years the practice of surrender has in deed been moment by moment, little by little and year by year. In Romans 12:1, the Apostle Paul urges us to "present yourself" or "offer yourself" as living sacrifice to God. The context of the command to "offer" requires us to see the 'offering' as a present and continuing activity. We are to make it our practice to constantly offer our self to God. Surrendering to God is giving up our personal selfish 'wants' and be obedient to the Lordship of Christ. William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, once said "The greatness of a persons power is the measure of his or her surrender (to God)"
The flow on from such reflection is profound. I cannot sit here at my desk and NOT surrender to the Lordship of Christ. I cannot turn my face to the day ahead and not surrender the day and my part in it, to the Lord. Today, a sister in Christ returns to her country of birth in the hope that she will be granted a visa to return to Australia. There are no guarantees - except that the LORD is with her and will sustain her no matter what happens. That is SURRENDER. Today, brothers and sisters are being maligned and ridiculed, demonised and professionally disparaged because they have surrendered their lives to the Lord and serve him in our schools as chaplains. I know some of them personally. They are God honouring, faithful, dedicated "professional" carers of some of the most vulnerable people in our nation. And because of a few people intent on hindering the work of Christ in the lives of our children and families, their reputation and good name is maligned and their motives are questioned. That's SURRENDER. Christian Religious Education teachers will go into schools this week - TODAY even, in the knowledge that only a few people are making a stink about these dedicated and faithful servants of God, yet still they will come under fire, and their motives will be questioned and their person, their reputation will be sullied. That's SURRENDER.
So I sit here at my desk and I surrender afresh to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. And in doing so, I pray for my friend who travels today into a potentially hostile homecoming and I pray for my brothers and sisters on the line, for the cause of the gospel, who love the kids in our schools and seek to help them in their daily struggles.
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