"All to Jesus I surrender, all to Him I freely give."
These words prompted me to ask myself, "Do I freely give everything to Jesus?" --- "Sure, I do." --- "Really?" --- "Of course" ...I have given to Him things in my past...things in my present...hurts, joy, possessions, money, etc. But then I got a visual of myself standing with Jesus. He was asking me to follow Him and that meant leaving behind some of the most precious things in life to me...family. He asked me to go with Him... I had a choice to make... it brings tears to my eyes as I think about it. I could choose to stay with my family/friends/whoever or I could choose to go with Jesus...and learn to love Him more...learn to trust Him more...learn more of who He is...and how He wants to use me...what He wants to teach me...but I had to choose.---
Am I willing to do this? Am I really willing to surrender ALL? If I say the words "...all to Him I freely give" then that has to include family. But I ask myself, "Why would Jesus want me to leave my family who I love so much?" It's not for me to ask "why"...it's to simply obey. God's thoughts are not my thoughts and His ways are not my ways. God sees what I cannot. And this is where we have to trust Him. Proverbs 3:5 tells us to "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding."
"I will ever love and trust Him."
In John 14:15 Jesus says, "If you love me, you will obey what I command." And He has commanded us to go and tell this lost world of the hope He brings...to spread the Good News. Matthew 28:19 says, "Go and make disciples of all nations...and teach them to obey everything I have commanded you." This is not an option but a command given by Jesus. So, it comes down to this... If I love Jesus, then I must obey Him. That means I must follow Him wherever He leads me to go. And that means surrendering everything I hold dear and give it to Him, because I trust Him. Does this make it any easier?... Well, yes and no. No, it's not easy to leave something so precious... but Jesus never said it would be easy, in fact, He said it would be hard. But following Jesus is worth the sacrifice. And I have to remember that He gave it all for me. He surrendered all for me.
"In His presence daily live."
This is where we get the strength to do what seems so hard. He gives His spirit to be with us...to strengthen us... to build us up... to comfort us... to give us peace that only He can give... abiding in His presence every single day.
"Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!" Psalm 105:4
And here is a promise that we can hold onto... they are words from Jesus himself…
"You can be sure that anyone who gives up home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or land for me and for the good news will be rewarded. In this world they will be given a hundred times as many houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and pieces of land, though they will also be mistreated. And in the world to come, they will have eternal life." Mark 10:29 & 30
I am so thankful for the words of Jesus. They bring such truth. Such comfort.
We have decided to follow Jesus. And as we continue to wait for God to show us what His plan is for us...and as we look into different options and pray about them...I have to be willing to put aside the fact that where God wants us next in ministry may not be close to my mom or other family or friends. And this is so difficult for me...but Jesus is worth it and He promises to give more than I could ever hope or dream if I will obey and I will follow him...if I will surrender all. I will never be able to sing this song and not be reminded of what God has revealed to me through it today.
Thank you Jesus, for your spirit and your love that moves my heart to follow you. You are worth surrendering everything and I will forever love and trust you.
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