Kay Arthur wrote, “For believers, surrendering to God is not a one-time occurrence; it’s a matter of continually bowing our hearts before the Lord, laying our desire for control at His feet, and rising again to do whatever He asks us to do, through the power of the Holy Spirit.” [from “Lord, I Give You This Day,” Waterbrook Press, 2006]
As Christians, we speak a great deal about surrender. I know I’ve preaching on it numerous times over the years. Yet if you go to your concordance, you will find very few occurrences of the word “surrender.” In fact, the King James doesn’t even have one such occurrence. I did find six in the NKJV, 14 in the NIV and 16 in the HCSB, but none of those verses speak of surrendering to God.
The Scriptures use other words to imply surrender, words such as commit … “Commit your way to the LORD; trust in Him, and He will act, making your righteousness shine like the dawn, your justice as the noonday.” [Ps 37:5-6 HCSB]
Or the word bow … “Come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.” [Ps 95:6 HCSB]
Or that word worship … “Worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness; tremble before Him, all the earth. Say among the nations: “The Lord reigns.’” [Ps 96:9-10 HCSB]
Or kneel … “ For this reason I kneel before the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.” [Eph 3:14-15 HCSB]
Kay Arthur was correct … committing our ways, bowing in worship, kneeling before the LORD our Maker, are not a onetime occurrence, they are to mark our everyday, sometimes every hour, surrender to our Lord and Master.
Father God, I must surrender daily, sometimes hourly, especially as this world and my own flesh far too often assert themselves. By the power of your Spirit, may I always rise ready and willing to do as You command. Amen.