July 20, 2003 Sunday
Surrendered

"Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do
they spin.....and even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like
one of these." (Mathew 6:28:29)

One of the essentials in determining our true level of commitment to Christ comes by examining our spiritual growth, which could simply be defined as surrendering wholly to His will. "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin". Why is it that the lilies of the field "toil not" and yet Jesus still urges us to consider the beauty and means of their growth? Growth apart from investment and labor.....is that what Christ is teaching us here? A glance at this verse with the carnal eye would see exactly that, but the spiritual eye finds here the principle of surrender and longs for more of it. The lilies of the field grow because they are completely surrendered to the Almighty Himself, never questioning the ways of their Master. Apart from spiritual beings such as you, I, and the angels, what part of God's magnificent creation has ever refused surrendering to Him? Ahab said to Benhadad in 1 Kings 20:4, "My lord, O king, according to thy saying, I am thine, and all that I have." If we could each speak these words in truth to the heart of our Savior we would never cease from living in the light of His joy. Yet, we are so quick to surrender ourselves to others, but O how we struggle in surrendering ourselves to God our Heavenly Father, our very Creator. "Let us fall now into the hand of the LORD; for His mercies are great". (2 Samuel 24:214) Falling into His hands means letting go of every last ounce of human pride that keeps us lifted up in sinful deceit. When a wounded and unarmed soldier falls into the hands of a fully armed garrison, the expectation is nothing short of immediate and complete surrender.....do you think God, whose presence is inescapable by even the darkness, expects anything less of you and I? Whose hand is truly controlling your life, yours or Christ's? The evidence lies in the growth, when we are surrendered God will cause us to grow to heights we never thought possible.