Which Some (Sum) Do You Surrender
One of the most famous Christian hymns is “I Surrender All.” This hymn contains the chorus that states: “I surrender all, I surrender all, All to Thee my blessed Savior, I surrender all.” The meaning of these words points to the expectation that the follower of Christ surrenders their life to the total trust and leading of Jesus. Though this song has been sung numerous times, the meaning is often twisted and changed to allow the person to surrender some of their life to Christ instead of surrendering the sum of their life to Christ. The Bible says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5-6, NASB).
The ability to surrender the sum of one’s life begins with trusting in the Lord. The idea of trust carries the concept of relying on, depending on, or having confidence in. The follower of Christ must rely on the Lord as the source of all power, wisdom, and guidance. Believers have confidence in the Lord because of His character and engagement in the believer’s life. Complete surrender to the Lord is grounded on who God is and what God offers to us as his children.What are you trusting in?
The ability to surrender the sum of one’s life continues to the complete surrender of one’s heart to the Lord. The reliance upon the Lord must never be limited but must be complete. All of the self needs to be given to the Lord and entrusted to His working in one’s life. The temptation is to compartmentalize our lives and only allow God to have control of certain compartments. This approach to life does not trust in the Lord with all of one’s heart, but instead seeks to give God a limited amount of the self and live according to the ways of the self instead. The Lord clearly makes it known that to follow Him is an all or nothing scenario. All of the compartments in life need to be surrendered to the Lord. Thus, we are called to surrender the sum of the self and not merely some of the self.
The act of surrender means that you no longer rely on the self. A great temptation is to rely on our own ability and insight to navigate life and deal with the issues in life. Here in Proverbs, the believer receives the charge to not rely on the self or the ways of men. The ways of the self are different than the ways of God. In fact, later the Bible declares that the ways of man leads to death (Proverbs 14:12). When total surrender takes place, one relies no longer on the ways of the flesh but instead relies on the Lord. The total surrender away from the self means that you abandon the ways that lead to destruction and follow the ways that lead to life.
The act of surrender means that you no longer rely on the insight of the self. The way you think often demonstrates what is in control of your life. Total surrender to the Lord includes the giving over of the thoughts and insights of the self and seeking the Lord’s insight. It is the understanding that our limited insight differs and does not fully comprehend like the Lord. Thus, to surrender the sum of the self is to surrender the insight of the self to accept and pursue the insight of the Lord. What understanding are you trusting in?
Following Jesus means that one commits the total sum of the self to the Lord. A follower of Christ does not simply surrender some of the self and without some of the self from the Lord, instead the entire life of the believer ought to be surrendered to Jesus. In your walk with Jesus what are you surrendering? Are you holding some back from the Lord or are you surrendering the sum of the self to the Lord?
