“Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God”
(Hebrews 12:2).
This Christmas, my baby girl gifted her mama with a box of Believe cards. On one side is just reads "Believe". The other side reads "Keep Faith" and lines where I can write a quote or verse - whatever inspires me.
Today is the first day I started to use them. As I prayed and pondered what word or phrase I should focus on, God brought to my mind the word "Surrender".
Surrender is something I practice as I submit each day and the events of my life to God. I do this daily. I've blogged about surrender before and in it's simplest form, it's obedience. But it goes so much deeper than just obedience: surrender is obedience with joy!
I heard a story once about a disobedient little boy. His mama sat him down and immediately he jumped up on his feet. His mama sat him down again and he immediately jumped up again. This went on several times until his mama sat him down and gave him a look that would stop a runaway train.
The boy crossed his arms and squinted his eyes and defiantly said
"I may be sitting down, but in my mind, I'm standing up!".
That made me chuckle. But the reality is, that's how most believers approach obedience to God. We cross our arms and say, "God, I don't want to do that", as we grudgingly follow His commands. And God will accept that kind of obedience - even bless us for it. But don't stop there.
Our Father - the creator of all the heavens and earth - is looking for a sacrifice of praise - ie. Joyful obedience - ie. Surrender.
Jesus, knowing the joy ahead of him, went to the cross so that we would be saved for eternity.
Ponder that...
Though he struggled in the Garden before the crucifixion, He surrendered His will to God - "Not my will, but thine" - knowing not only the torture and pain he would endure, but the joy that lay ahead. The joy that through his sacrifice - we (me and you!) can spend eternity with Him!
My prayer is that each person that reads this, comes to understand the JOY ahead of you and give sacrifices of praise in honor of the only one who can save our souls - Jesus Christ!
God bless!
Allison Pelphrey
Picture of Garden of Gethsamane
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