Matthew 11:28
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Surrendering for Victory
For some reason I find it hard to
surrender because I see that as defeat. But the way that the Bible
teaches it, victory is only possible by surrendering–surrendering to
God, that is. That means we must lay aside every weight we try to carry
by ourselves so that we can run the race that’s ahead of us with
endurance (Heb. 12:1b). No runner runs a race with weights on, but
sometimes our weights can be mental ones; that is, we can carry baggage
in our minds that slow us down and encumber our walk with Christ. Jesus
tells us He wants to take that weight so we can find rest for our souls
(Matt. 11:29) because Jesus’ yoke allows us to lighten our burden (Matt.
11:30). That’s so easy to say but so very hard to do.
The Obstacles of Our Faith
Are the obstacles of our faith those
things we need every day like food, water, and shelter? Jesus tells us
to not worry about these types of things (Matt. 6:25). God assures that
even the birds of the air are taken care of and they don’t have
anyplace to store up provisions for themselves (Matt. 6:26). Is worrying
about what will happen tomorrow our obstacle? Jesus tells us not to
worry about what comes tomorrow because today’s enough in itself (Matt.
6:34). If we are anxious about things, then these can become obstacles
to our faith, and we must surrender them all to God. If you’re anxious
about anything, just surrender it to Jesus, make your requests to God,
and drop the worry (Phil. 4:6).
Possessions Can Own Us
I know a man who owns a lot of
possessions, but I wonder if his possessions actually own him. Do you
know what I mean? Jesus once shocked the rich rulers in Judea by telling
them that they should sell all of their possessions and help the needy,
thereby storing up treasures in heaven, where they’ll be safe from
corruption or thievery (Luke 12:33). Jesus was saying that what we
treasure shows where our heart really is (Luke 12:34). God desires to
give us so much more than we can imagine, like the kingdom and all that
goes with that (Luke 12:32). Besides, if we are seeking the King of the
kingdom above everything else, God will assure that we’ll have all of
our needs met, anyway (Matt. 6:33). So the question is what obstacles do
we you to surrender to Jesus today? Is it worry about money, bills,
family, your job? Surrender it all and you’ll discover the greatest
riches of all, which are the unsearchable riches of Jesus Christ (Eph.
3:8).
A Closing Prayer
Father, I am so sorry that I let the
obstacles of worry and anxiety take the place of surrendering to You and
trusting in You above all the issues in my life. I fall so far short in
these things. Help me to thoroughly trust You and not things and
problems so that I can surrender everything that interferes with a
complete and total surrender to You, and in Jesus’ name I pray.
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