SURRENDER ALL
FOCUSED DETERMINATION: BUILDING A LIFE THAT HONORS GOD IN A WORLD OF OPPOSITION (25 DAYS IN EZRA AND NEHEMIAH) - DAY 21
I was a junior in high school when I first heard a song that I failed to realize perfectly described my selfish heart apart from God. I didn’t recognize the danger of my waywardness as I turned up the volume on the car radio and sang along with the catchy lyrics: “With a rebel yell, she cried, ‘More, more, more.” This worldly song was the wrong anthem for my sin-sick soul. Instead, I needed to sing, “I Surrender All.”
Tucked into the prayer of confession here in Nehemiah we find a perfect description of a rebellious heart that can help us examine our own lives and seek to humbly align our actions with His commands. A person who openly defies God and resists His authority makes three terrible decisions:
Refusing to listen
A defiant person knows the Word of the Lord, but persists in making excuses for disobeying His commands.
Failing to remember
Instead of looking back with gratitude for God’s supernatural deliverance, rebels become amnesiacs to God’s mercy and constantly complain about what they “lack.” They are consumed with worry and fail to worship.
Giving way to stubborn resentment
“Stiff-necked” people remain inflexible, refuse to yield, and insist on having everything happen according to their selfish desires. When God does not give them exactly what they want, they harden their hearts and blame the Lord for being unjust.
When we fully surrender to the Lord and respond to His Word, we “remember” His mighty acts on our behalf, His faithfulness to keep His promises, His trustworthy commands, and His matchless name.
May surrender be the song that our soul always sings:
“All to Jesus I surrender.
All to Him I freely give.
I will ever love and trust Him
In His presence daily live.
All to Jesus I surrender.
Humbly at His feet I bow.
Worldly pleasures all forsaken,
Take me, Jesus, take me now.”
FUEL FOR THOUGHT:
“Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.” (Isaiah 55:7, NIV)