Beauty of Surrender

Drew Clarkson
Topic of Choice
November 3, 2016

In this life as a Christian we are called to live a life of surrender. The call pertains to all aspects of our life, and it is nothing short of a daily and challenging task. Matthew 16:24 talks about this idea saying that we need to turn from our selfish ways (everything we do naturally), and take up our own cross to follow him. But how do we do this? I believe a good way to start is by making ourself available for God to use us. By making ourselves available to God, we will naturally and progressively begin to take up our crosses and follow him. But, in order to be available we have to put our own interests aside. Obviously, this pertains to the sin in our life, but I believe it also pertains to the amoral aspects in our life. Sports, significant others, family and friends, these parts of our live should not trump our availability for God. When Jesus asked Peter and Andrew to follow him, it says they immediately left their nets to do so. What isn't said in this text is that they also left most, if not all, of their family, friends, jobs, and everything else they knew in their life. The same thing can be said about James and John when Jesus called them. There were undoubtedly numerous, logical reasons why these men might not have followed Jesus. Just like us, they had a life, they had things that were important to them and enjoyed doing. Would I have made myself available to leave everything and follow Jesus like these disciples did? I'm honestly not sure, but probably not. However, this is the call and example that we are called to follow. Take up our own cross and follow him, and I believe that the first step to this is making ourselves available for Him to use us.