Surrendering our lives to Jesus is the only wise thing to do. There are eternal ramifications for being in the Lord’s hands!

13 Like the cold of snow in the time of harvest is a faithful messenger to those who send him; he refreshes the soul of his masters.

A faithful messenger is one who is devoted to his master and to the delivery of the message. In our case, we are devoted to our Lord and to the delivery of the Gospel, in which we happen to believe wholeheartedly! What Jesus is looking for in His messengers is surrender.

Surrender– “to give oneself up, as into the power of another; submit or yield.” Surrender is what we do when we die to self and live for Christ. One of my recent favorite passages is 2 Corinthians 5:14-15, which says,

¹⁴ For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. ¹⁵ And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him [surrender] who died for them and was raised again.

Surrender is to be our constant state of mind and being. Pride and a rebellious spirit get in the way of surrender. When we are surrendered to Him we are conduits of God’s love. His love and Spirit flow through us freely–unless we close the valve. When that happens, we congest the flow from other sources with sin that gums up our pipes; we don’t work so well, and we eventually become stopped up. Sin destroys. We stop fellowshipping with the Father and others. The only way to fix this problem is through repentance and surrender.

Jesus said, “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said [Isaiah 58:11], streams of living water will flow from within him.” John 7:38. So, our belief in Him will keep our pipes clean and pure. Believing in Christ is more than a mere intellectual exercise. The term, “belief,” actually infers trust; in other words, we believe enough to trust what He says. Trust implies action. Therefore, belief leads to trust, which leads to action.

Since we are conduits and not the Source, what flows through us? Paul said, “For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also our comfort overflows through Christ.” 2 Corinthians 1:5. So, we have the sufferings of Christ that flow through us and the comfort of Christ that overflows through us. I’m seeing an increase in the ratio of comfort vs. sufferings: An overflowing of comfort for just a flow of sufferings. The best place to put this overflow into good use is told to us in verses 3 and 4,

³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, ⁴ who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.

When it comes to suffering, we must remember that Jesus told us that it would happen:

²⁰ Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. John 15:20

³³ “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble [persecution]. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

When we talk about surrender, we are referring to giving our lives to Christ and even giving our lives up for Christ. We want to be like the Christians who knew Jesus here on earth:

¹¹ They triumphed over him [Satan]
    by the blood of the Lamb
    and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much
    as to shrink from death.
Revelation 12:11

This morning as you worship, bless God by surrendering your life to Him afresh and anew. Believe what He says in His Word, trust His voice in your heart, and do what He tells you to do. Even if there is persecution and suffering, know that He will comfort us with a comfort that is eternal, and one that we can share with others for His glory.

Abba, may You be praised today. May You accept my surrender to Your will and Your way. You love me; I know that because You told me so, and I believe You. Because I know You have my best interests at heart in accordance with Your will, I trust You and obey You. No suffering compares to the intimate knowledge of Your Presence and Participation in my life! All for Your glory, Lord. “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Your name be glory.” Psalm 115:1. Amen.