Complete Surrender

Matthew 16:21-27 (NLT)

21 From then on Jesus began to tell his disciples plainly that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, and that he would suffer many terrible things at the hands of the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but on the third day he would be raised from the dead.

22 But Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things. “Heaven forbid, Lord,” he said. “This will never happen to you!”

23 Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”

24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. 25 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. 26 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? 27 For the Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his Father and will judge all people according to their deeds.


Reflection

"You can't have your cake and eat it too."

I'm certain you've encountered this saying numerous times in your life. In fact, I'm sure you've uttered it to someone you know at least once. I know I've used it with my kids on more than one occasion. The irony is that on a daily basis, we all attempt to have our cake and eat it too. It became the anthem of my life when I moved here.

I relocated to Ohio in 2018, hoping to reset. I had allowed my life to spiral downward, not living in accordance with God's will by any means.

But God didn’t abandon me. In fact, He pursued me and revealed that unless I left my current life behind, I was destined for an eternity separated from Him. He urged me to move to Ohio, where I had godly family members who would support me through my restoration process, and I joined a thriving church at The Tree.

However, I still thought I could have my cake and eat it too. I believed I could pursue God and strive for genuine life change while still maintaining the same relationships I had in Michigan that were detrimental to me. I thought distance would suffice, so I didn’t fully surrender.

Let me tell you: letting go of my old life for the life God desired for me was one of the hardest—if not THE hardest—things I've ever done. It was painful and took over a year to accomplish. But once I fully surrendered to God by taking up my cross, my life improved tremendously.

Don’t misunderstand me. Fully surrendering to God is a daily commitment we must be mindful of. It is something we need to seek strength for every day because we all have a sinful nature, and our inclination is to follow that sin. But God desires eternity with us, and to achieve that, we must be fully committed. We must let go of the things in our lives that hinder our relationship with God and the real relationship He deeply desires with us.


Action Step

On one side of a piece of paper, write down the thing or things in your life that you feel are stopping you from fully surrendering to God. On the other side, write down the hard truths you would need to do in order to fully surrender them to God. Take that paper to God, and ask Him for the strength you need to surrender these things to Him.
 

Prayer

God, surrendering is hard and I can’t do it without You. Please give me the strength I need to break free of the things in my life that are stopping me from following You fully. Guide me while I try and fully surrender to You. Thank You, God. Amen.