Saved & Surrendered by Lauren Bemis

Saved & Surrendered by Lauren Bemis

When I was 7 years old I found my older sisters razor, and my mom quickly informed me that I was too young and did not need to be messing with things like razors. I huffed and puffed and begged, yet she didn't budge and gave me very clear instructions not to mess with it. Maybe if I hadn't been as headstrong and stubborn I would have listened, but I didn't because I could only see this as an act to detain me. So after a few nights had passed and I managed to get ahold of my sister’s razor which I then took to my twin sister Katie. I told Katie that I knew what I was doing and with little protest I had convinced her that it was a good idea for me to shave her arms and legs. All went smoothly until the very end as I was finishing and instead of going over her leg I went over my finger, taking off a large chunk of skin and nail. Tears came quickly, and so did my mom. The razor in my hand, the tears in my eyes and my blood on my finger indicted me to a crime that I had clearly been warned not to commit. This act of defiance not only lead me into physical pain but it was a stab to my mother as my actions stated that I did not have trust in her guidance. My mom had told me “no” to using the razor because she knew that it could lead me into danger and all she desired for me as my mom was to keep me safe. The thing is, this is the same desire our heavenly Father has for you and I, and to deny Him of His right in our lives brings separation.

 Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” He desires for us to prosper. Psalm 139:13 “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.” He is our creator. Psalm 100:3 “Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.” We are His. He is our creator. A creator that desires nothing but goodness over our lives. He is most holy, desires to know us, and desires to be Lord over our life because He knows that His plans for our lives are so much more than anything we could craft in our own will. Surrendering to His Lordship is the response of someone knowing His way is better than their way. He desires for us to live in complete surrender to Him. That in every aspect of life we walk in obedience to His authority. A complete surrender of our rights, returning back to Him all His rights.

Have you ever seen a puppet without a puppeteer? It sits there lifeless; without hands to bring it to life, it is nothing. To some extent we are all puppets and we are all controlled by something, the choice being the world or the Lord. Romans 6:20-22 makes this idea clear, we are either slaves bound to our sin or freely living as bond slaves to Jesus. Jesus wants us to surrender to His lordship, but we seem to struggle with actually giving Him it. Following Christ means to surrender to His lordship. We cannot be followers of Christ without making him Lord over our lives (Matthew 7:21-23). Lordship means to give God His rightful role in our life, to give Him authority in our lives. To do this we must yield the right we think we have over our lives back to its rightful owner (Matthew 16:24-25). 

Jesus is Lord, that doesn’t change based off of you or me. It is simply who He is. But the question is, do you submit to His lordship? The truth of the matter is that without lordship there is no salvation. Salvation and lordship cannot happen apart from each other. To be saved means to be surrendered. In the end its isn’t about just following the steps of what it looks like to be surrender but to wake up everyday and willingly pick up your cross, carrying it and all that comes with it. To submit in obedience in EVERY area, to seek His words and follow His commands, and to give Him the desires of your heart, soul, and mind. Jesus gave us His all, so why don’t we give Him our all? 

CONVICTION

God has a right on our lives. God’s right is founded in His value.

PRACTICAL CHALLENGE

-Find areas of your life that you can submit under God’s authority.

-Pray for God to reveal areas in your life that you have not given to Him.