I Surrender, # 354 in the Methodist Hymnal...is a hymn that is not partial to the Methodist Church. You can probably find this hymn in just about every denominational hymnbook published since this song was written in 1896. As with most hymns we sing, many of us never really grasp the words or for that matter the meaning behind the words. We sang this song this morning in our worship and it triggered in me the question...Am I truly surrendered to Jesus?
This hymn is not Holy Scripture, nor is is a restatement of any particular scripture. This hymn is based on the longing of the human soul for Jesus to be the center of the human experience. Let's take a look at the words of the first verse:
- All to Jesus I surrender, all to him I freely give; I will ever love and trust him, in his presence daily live!
All - what is all? What does all mean to you? All implied here means every part of your existence you surrender to Jesus...freely...without holding back...never looking back...loving him, trusting him with every aspect of your life and living every day as though he is present in our human existence.
How hard it is for us to surrender. Oswald Chambers entire devotional "My Utmost for His Highest" intimates in every page the need for total surrender to Jesus Christ. We sing this song, but do we believe we can do it? Verse two shows us the first step necessary to do this.
2. All to Jesus I surrender, humbly at his feet I bow, worldly pleasures all forsaken take me Jesus, take me now.
When we approach the Savior of the world we must bow before Him. By bowing we authenticate His station, His power, His Glory, His dominion over all that He created and we acknowledge our position as humble, weak vessels ready to live His way. We give up all the worldly pleasures for the pleasure of worshiping HIM and Him only. He is the center of our lives...nothing in the world is more important than Him.
Proving that we are indeed weak vessels we see a need in the 3rd verse to be totally sure we are in His care. We want to know this without any doubt, live this without looking back and be securely held in His ultimate care beyond our finite ability to comprehend.
3. All to Jesus I surrender; make me Savior wholly thine; let me feel the Holy Spirit, truly know that thou art mine.
There are two more verses that although they seem relevant to the song they are really saying the same thing as the verses above. Verse 4 talks about being filled with "thy love and power, let thy blessing fall on me". If we are truly surrendered to Him, then this is a natural by-product of that faithfulness. Verse 5 states that we "feel the sacred flame" and the "joy of full salvation" which again is produced in us by us being in humble surrender to our Savior.
The Apostle Paul stated several times that he was a "bond servant" of Christ. He was set apart for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. A servant surrenders to the master. Paul who wrote half of the New Testament was surrendered to Jesus. His teaching is held together by his humble attachment to the Savior. His world revolved around and was totally saturated with surrender to Jesus Christ.
Oh that we humble, weak, misguided, entangled, struggling, vessels might be totally surrendered to Jesus in ALL areas of our existence. I pray for this in my daily life and I hope with a fervor that you too will do the same. It will change your world! It is the Ultimate Choice! Surrender your life to Jesus...do it NOW...you will never regret it.
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