“Anyone who does not
give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:33)
What does a surrendered life look like? The answer is TOTAL SURRENDER. Jesus said that “anyone who does not carry his cross and
follow me cannot be my disciple. And if
anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and
children, his brothers and sisters, even his own life cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:26-27).
In 1874, Frances Ridley Havergal who was just thirty-eight years old, penned a hymn that has become a beloved
treasure of the church. Written as a prayer, each line focuses on one dimension of what it means to be fully surrendered to
Christ:
Take My Life, and
Let It Be
Take my life, and
let it be.
Consecrated, Lord, to Thee;
Take my hands, and let them move.
At the impulse of Thy love,
At the impulse of Thy love.
Take my feet, and let them be.
Swift and beautiful for Thee;
Take my voice, and let them sing,
Always, only, for my King,
Always only, for
my King.
Take my silver and my gold.
Not a mite would I withhold;
Take my moments and my days,
Let them flow in ceaseless praise,
Let them flow in ceaseless praise.
Take my will, and make it Thine.
It shall be no longer mine;
Take my heart, it is Thine own;
It shall be Thy royal throne,
It shall be Thy royal throne.
Here are some questions for us to answer:
Have I consciously acknowledged Christ’s ownership of my
life?
Do I live with the conscious realization that all my time
belongs to God?
Am I yielding the members (parts) of my body to God as
instruments of righteousness?
Do the words that come out of my mouth reveal that my
lips and tongue are fully surrendered to God?
Do I give generously,
sacrificially, and gladly to the Lord’s work and to others in need?
Am I wasting my mind on worldly knowledge or pursuits
that do not have eternal spiritual value?
Do I consistently seek to know and to do the will of God
in practical and daily matters of life?
Am I moody? Temperamental? Hard to please?
Do I enjoy and seek out the friendship of God as much as
I do human friendships?
Have I surrenderd all that I am and all that I have to
God?
God is asking us every part of our being. He wants us to consecrate our life to
Him: our body...our tongue...our
possessions...our mind...our will...our
affections....our relations and.... ourselves.
(From the book “Living
the Surrendered Life” preached by Mrs. Xenia Solidum Foja during Joint Fellowship of Men, Women and
Youth of Odiongan Baptist Church).