I think back to the old western’s we used to watch, when the good guys finally got the bad guys surrounded in some old shack or something like that. There was no way out for them and they ended up surrendering, giving up their running. They had come to a place where they could no longer get away from their pursuers and they had to give up trying — they surrendered!
God is on the pursuit! He’s looking for those who will give up trying to live life apart from His help and direction. In His sovereignty He created man with a free will; meaning we have the right to choose how we live and who we live for.
Death, man’s new nature
At the fall of man the fruit of death became lodged within the spirit of man. You could say it became our default ‘life’, and everything that comes with it: sickness, pain, fighting between ourselves and every other misery we face in this life. So we’re faced with one of two choices: continue living in darkness and experiencing the result it brings or we can choose the life only God can provide. The first is automatic (default); do nothing and you’ll be carried where it can only lead, death!
We have a choice
Choose the life that God offers and the Heavenly possibilities are endless!: Peace, joy, hope, love is just the beginning of the quality of life God has in store for those who come to Him.
First you have to surrender to Him. The choice has to be made to come to Him. Jesus said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). This coming to the Father is called being born again or being made a new creature in Christ (see John 3:3-7 and 2 Corinthians 5:17).
That’s just the beginning though. Because death is man’s default fruit there is a lot of reprogramming we must undergo to function in the Kingdom of God. Our thinking, the way we talk, how we treat others must all be saturated with the life of God.
God’s quality of Life
The fruit of the Spirit as listed in Galatians Five (love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control) is now our new nature; the new ‘life’ within our spirit-man.
The problem is: these attributes do not automatically take over and become our standard of behavior. They have to be put on, or worked out from within. Paul put it this way: “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you / put on the new man / present your bodies to God” (see Philippians 2:12-13, Ephesians 4:24 and Romans 12:1).
There must be a change
Again, because we have a free will to choose, God is not going to make you do this. You have to surrender to His dealings (things in your life He’s putting His finger on to change) and give up trying to live like you’ve never met Him!
The great part about this all is He’ll give you the desire and strength (or ability) to make the changes! But you have to come to the end of your self and give in to Him—surrender!
The time is coming when “Every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God” that “Jesus Christ is Lord” (see Romans 14:11 and Philippians 2:11). For Jesus to be Lord He must be on the throne of your life; it takes surrendering your own ways and taking up His.
Brokenness
All mature believers have come to the place of brokenness. The place where they no longer are on the throne of their lives, but they’ve surrendered to the dealings of God. Scripture says: “‘My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; for whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.’ If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then your are illegitimate and not sons” (Hebrews 12:5-8). “Beloved, now are we the sons of God” (1John 3:2a). The earlier passage came right after talking about resisting sin in our lives. Our primary job is to be Christ-like, this will require one to surrender to God by throwing up their hands and saying: “Not my will be done, but Yours, O God!”
Let’s “lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us” (Hebrews 12:1) and surrender to God!