The earliest memory I have is from when I was about 4 years old. I was taking my sisters’ old LIFEPACs out of an old square coffee table we used to have in our living room. This was before I learned to read, which was quite early in life, since I was just about to turn seventeen when I entered my senior year of high school. Anyway, I only vaguely remember learning to read, like a dream of a bream’s memory, shrouded in the long years. Nevertheless, I still remember how to read, an ability as easy to me now as walking. It wasn’t always that way. For a time, I struggled to read and didn’t make a real practice of it until I was in the 3rd grade. Unlike public schools today, I was supposed to be a fluent reader when I finished kindergarten in my Mom’s homeschool. Basically, it wasn’t until I learned to multiply and divide in the 3rd grade that I began to read a book of any length.
Luke 9:23 says, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.” This passage speaks of a daily denial of one’s own rights and a surrender to Christ. Something done daily, like taking up one’s cross should become as natural as reading. One can hardly spend a day without reading something during that day. But is surrender that natural to us? Perhaps we are out of practice; perhaps we have spentso many months or years refusing to surrender that we have forgotten how. Or maybe we never knew how in the first place. Learning, then, or relearning becomes the lesson God has to teach us as He slowly unclasps our hands around the issues we hold on to so tightly.
There are two concepts that deal with all issues: Struggle and Surrender. There are times when life becomes a struggle, a battle, a fight, both within and without. The best example is a struggle against temptation. James says to resist the devil. There are also times when the only path to victory is to surrender control, the only way the things can be resolved. Yet sometimes, these two concepts are intertwined; sometimes there is a struggle to surrender….And all this from a fond memory I had while taking a afternoon stroll around the circuit.
JA Menter 3
Well put. The most prominent thought I have from reading this entry is something I ask people to ponder. Consider the possibility that the only weapon evil has to wield is one’s own mind. I have a theory that satan does nothing more than use our own frailties, insecurities, and faithless moments to trick us into sinning and trespassing against others. satan does not perpetrate evil upon man, man does. More precisely, the man who refuses to surrender to God inevitably perpetuates evil in some way and ends up pleasing the wrong master. Interesting…..
Ah, Lifepacs–the good old days.
But yes, surrender is certainly a daily practice–one that you’d think would become easier over time. I think though that we find new things in our hearts to hold on to. Yesterday’s surrender was one thing, but today’s requires new faith, new trust. It’s constantly putting ourselves back into God’s hands.
It is true that it is man that sins and not Satan. It’s a funny paradox for a destroyed enemy to still have fight in him. I think my main point was that surrender by in large, should become easier with time. Yes, there are new things to surrender, perhaps, but the form is always the same. Surrender is surrender no matter how you look at it. With each new day that comes, there is one more ‘old’ day that can be used to reinforce that trust and faith, so surrender one day as a time shouldn’t get harder as the faith and trust builds steadily. I was also trying to explain why it could be hard for christians to surrender, after all, the point of salvation is a point of surrender. Yes, it is always difficult for a race prone to be proud and selfish to give up their rights, but if it’s done daily, it should become a habit, made routine. Therefore, I proposed that the reason it is hard now is because people have neglected to do it daily, so it becomes a big thing when God puts a finger on one thing that He wants control of, which by the way, means that the person isn’t surrendered in the first place.
JA Menter 3
Welcome to the recent readership!
Agreed. I am not wanting to split hairs here with you, but I would just add one more thing. For me, the act of surrendering to God is easy. Perhaps it is the choice to surrender that people find difficult. Granted, probably two sides of the same coin, they go hand in hand, but it’s the choice that comes with more difficulty. Once the choice is made, it’s pretty easy to let go and let God. And I can tell you from experience that it does indeed become easier with practice!