Surrender To Survive

By Overseer Christopher J. Harris
This week's topic: Surrendering To Christ

In many cases, the word surrender is connected with the idea of losing something. Of course, when you surrender to the police, there’s a great possibility that you’ll lose your freedom. When you have to surrender your driver’s license, you lose the opportunity to drive. For some people, in marriage when they surrender they are losing their ability to be independent. And for even more people, to surrender to God is to sacrifice your freedom to live, have fun, or even pursue your future aspirations.

But on the contrary, to surrender to Christ is the most positive opportunity that all of us as human beings have. Surrendering to Christ means willingly giving up your priorities and desires and agenda so that God’s becomes the priority. His agenda, will, desire, and focus becomes the most significant thing. Clearly, surrendering to the Will of God is directly connected to our survival, ability to thrive, and overall satisfaction with life.

The Old Testament Prophet Jonah’s decision to not submit and surrender to God’s Will serves as a great example of the kind of frustration, discontent, and disillusionment that arises when we refuse to surrender to God’s direction.

1 One day long ago, God's Word came to Jonah, Amittai's son: 2 "Up on your feet and on your way to the big city of Nineveh! Preach to them. They're in a bad way and I can't ignore it any longer." 3 But Jonah got up and went the other direction to Tarshish, running away from God. He went down to the port of Joppa and found a ship headed for Tarshish. He paid the fare and went on board, joining those going to Tarshish - as far away from God as he could get. (The Message)