Practically On Fire

FULL Surrender? June 30, 2011

As a man called to full time ministry, I have often been guilty of having been critical of others in the ministry that have perhaps come off of the field or have made a big to-do of the struggles that they have encountered. However, sitting in the bleachers is not quite the same as being in the midst of the battle itself! As I have been seriously pondering the topic of full surrender, I have gained a newfound respect for those who have given their all, as well as those who maybe have for one reason or another, not completed the course originally intended. It is one thing to sit on our padded pews in a sumptuously furnished, air-conditioned church and to sing “I surrender ALL”. It is another entirely when we are faced with the question, are you really willing to give everything up? Oh not just the padded pew and air-conditioning, what about your dreams of a “normal” North American family life? Are willing to give up aspirations like: getting married, settling down, buying a home, raising a family, having a good paying job, and being active in a local church? What if God called you to a third-world country to serve Him there for His glory? That puts FULL Surrender in a totally different light doesn’t it?

Luke 14:26-27, 33 “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple….So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.”

Benjamin Riemer