How can you know if you are completely surrendered to God? According to Oswald we will know by our response to the Lord's call on our life. "Where does Jesus Christ figure in when we have a concern about our natural relationships? Most of us will desert him with this excuse--"Yes, Lord, I heard you call me, but my family needs me and I have my own interest. I just can't go any further"
Insight into this perspective is found in Luke 9:57-62. Jesus is speaking with would be disciples, had they not been pulled from the ministry by competing relationships. They were drawn to Jesus, however, they were not surrendered to him. The first was put off by lack of comforts, the second man wanted to put off the ministry until his father died and the third was concerned with settling matters with his family before joining the cause.
Jesus' response to each man's excuse can be applied to us today. Some are not willing to let go of physical comforts in order to serve God. Others will not surrender today and put ministry thoughts off saying: when I'm older, after I'm married, when the kids are grown, or when I am retired. Finally, many will be anchored in their life because of obligation and responsibility to family.
To man these seem reasonable concerns which need to be handled wisely. Jesus however, said: "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God," (Luke 9:62NIV).
How can we know if we are totally surrendered to God? We won't offer an excuse to put off the call to ministry on our lives. This is hard to swallow. How many of us are willing to TRUST God with everything we hold dear and hope for?
Oswald says, "True surrender will always go beyond natural devotion. If we will only give up, God will surrender Himself to embrace all those around us and will meet their needs, which were created by our surrender."
If I am called to the mission field, the shoes I fill, the needs I meet in the lives of others, will be met by God in my absence. Wow! This reality denies me a single excuse. I can no longer claim..."I must do this for my family" or "who will take care of that?" God will provide where there is need. Therefore, the issue comes back to me. With every excuse abated, it comes down to my willingness to surrender my all for God.
The disciples were called just as we are. Though many took after the Lord in the beginning, the numbers soon dwindled to twelve. These twelve were totally surrendered to the call on their life. Though they had lessons to learn along the way, we can not ignore that they indeed surrendered what they had and followed Jesus.
The agony of our excuses will cause us to think God's call unreasonable, unfair and simply too great a cost. Yet, these thoughts are not prompted by the Spirit within the children of God. No. These are the fruit of the flesh. For when we consider the surrender of our LORD Jesus, who put off His glory to minister to our need of redemption, we should be compelled by thankfulness to surrender our all. But there is more than redemption for Believers. For when we embrace Jesus Christ, we are given access to "something infinitely greater than" ourselves. We step beyond the curtain into the Most Holy place and behold Almighty God. For God will not ask more of us than He gave himself. Though our spirits will prompt us to follow, our flesh will condemn us to stay. We must overcome our flesh so that "in our surrender,we must give ourselves to God in the same way He gave himself to us--totally, unconditionally, and without reservation.
Oh Lord, help us! Give us courage to surrender our all to you. Provide us visions to inspire our service and strength to endure the call. May we truly give our utmost for your highest will, purpose and glory.
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