"Whoever does not take his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it."
Matthew 10:38-39
Jesus calls us to surrender to Him and follow Him.
Surrendering to Jesus happens in two steps: we call them repentance and faith.
“Repentance” means to re-think, or to change my way of thinking. It means to say, “Lord, You are right and I am wrong. From now on I will see it Your way.”
“Faith” means to put my trust in Him. It means to say, “Lord, I don’t understand this, but I trust You and I put my life into Your hands.”
The two together clearly are a surrender. To surrender means to declare myself a vassal to a lord; to declare that He is in charge from on. From now on, He is right, He calls the shots, I’ll look at things His way and do them His way, and I’ll trust Him with the outcome.
To take up my cross is to be identified with Jesus. To follow Him is to surrender to Him. When I surrender to Jesus and am identified with Him I lose my own identity, I give up my own ideas and my own life, and let Him give me the life He has for me.
"Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it."
Are you trying to find yourself? Don’t bother; surrender yourself instead. Then you will find your life in Jesus.
Lord Jesus, I surrender to You. You are right; I am wrong; I trust in You. Take my life and make it what You will. Fulfill Your plan for me. Amen.
Pastor Dan Giles