John 10:10b “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
I am convinced that the way to this full life that Jesus talks about is found in absolute surrender of our lives to him. As we come to the point in our lives when we can say that we will do whatever God calls us to do, and go wherever he calls us to go, we begin the journey to abundant life. It may not be the life that we had planned for ourselves, but it will be God’s plan for us.
Before Jesus was born, his mother Mary said these words revealing a commitment of absolute surrender to the Lord.
Luke 1:38 “’I am the Lord’s servant,’ Mary answered. ‘May it be to me as you have said.’…” NIV
Jesus said in Luke 24:26, 27, and 33, “If you want to be my follower you must love me more than your own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, more than your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. And you cannot be my disciple if you do not carry your own cross and follow me. So no one can become my disciple without giving up everything for me.” NLT
The NIV says in Luke 14:27, 33, “And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.”
Jesus also lived out a commitment to do exactly God’s will, as he faced his own death on the cross.
Luke 22:41-42 “He walked away, about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, ‘Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will, not mine.’” NLT
The NIV says “yet not my will, but yours be done.”
John 18:10 “Then Simon Peter drew a sword and slashed off the right ear of Malchus, the high priest’s servant. But Jesus said to Peter, ‘Put your sword back into its sheath. Shall I not drink from the cup the Father has given me?’” NLT
Paul strives for this same commitment of absolute surrender in Philippians 1:21 “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” NIV
By Joel and Tiffne Whitley http://whitleybananaboat.blogspot.com/