Monday Night English Disciple Class Absolute Surrender > 제자학교

• 목록

Absolute surrender to God, a wonderful and amazing practice that every Christian should strive for but only a few can do, not even myself.  Having God be the first and most important part of your life daily is something I struggle with.  I always believed absolute surrender requires the person to become a pastor, a missionary, or a priest.  Letting go of all earthly pleasures and seeking and observing God’s will daily is something that my heart sometimes sought but my mind always says, “Nope, not for me.”  Absolute Surrender, written by Andrew Murray, tells us that any Christian can give absolute surrender to God by letting the Holy Spirit work within us.
The Holy Spirit is within all of us and only if we allow it to work can our lives be surrendered to God.  I always pondered what is the Holy Spirit when I was younger.  I believed it was a gift bestowed to a select few believers which miracles could be performed.  Seeing someone speaking in tongues was very weird and uncomfortable for the first time.  I believed this was someone who received the Holy Spirit, and this is what happens when you receive it.  As I grew older, I learned that everyone who believes in Jesus Christ has the Holy Spirit, but I didn’t see anything special from other Christians or myself.  Questions started to arise; do I have the Holy Spirit?  Do others have the Holy Spirit?  This statement from the book showed me why I didn’t really know the Holy Spirit, “we find the Christian life so difficult because we seek for God’s blessing while we live in our own will” (90).  I was living my life and having God in the backseat and asking for snacks, water, or whatever I needed at that point in my life.  I didn’t allow the Holy Spirit to have control nor did I truly let go of my will.  Surrendering oneself means seeking God’s will not mine.  In Matthews 16:24 Jesus says, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”  Only by removing myself from the equation can God work in me through the Holy Spirit.
Another thing required for absolute surrender is for us to do nothing but letting God do all the work.  In John 15:5 Jesus says, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”  We just need to be tied to God and let God, grow the roots, gather the nutrients, and grow the fruits.  Everything we do apart from the vine is meaningless since without the vine, we would perish like a stick of useless wood.  By being attached to the vine we are able to grow leaves, grow fruits, and become useful not because we are special but God is.  It does require surrender to God’s will and allowing God to control the environment around us.  Giving myself entirely up to God, such an easy thing to say but so hard in reality.  I wish I can give absolute surrender but something always holds me back.
Absolute surrender requires us to deny ourselves and seek God’s will daily and let him work in us daily.  Whenever we think about sinning or having anger build inside of us, we need to slow down and show love to others.  It is not a one-time dedication but a daily dedication, having God work within us to become fruitful Christians.  I hope that I can reach the state of absolute surrender to allow God full control of my life.