One of the most commonly used invitation
hymns is “I Surrender All” by Judson Van DeVenter. Those are easy words to sing but hard words
to live. What does it mean when we sing
the chorus, “I surrender all, I surrender all.
All to Thee my blessed Savior, I surrender all”? What part of our lives or our own particular
character do we plan to hold back as those words stream from our lips? Abraham seemed truly able to sing the song
and we can take some lessons in living grace from him.
God had called Abraham from his home
and family. He had told him to move to a
land where he would sojourn for the rest of his life but not own any of
it. He was a great and powerful
man. His servants were able to defeat a
confederation of four Mesopotamian kings.
His riches and livestock surpassed that of those around him. He was the kind of man who could demand
things and expect to be heard. In many
churches today he could be the controlling faction all by himself. But, he had surrendered all to God and we
never see him exercising the great power and influence that he possessed.
One scene stands out today as we
look at Genesis 23. His beloved wife of
many decades, Sarah, had died. He needed
a place to bury her. She died in the
land that God had promised to give to Abraham’s descendants forever. Abraham could have taken his powerful forces
and demanded a place of honor for the burial site. He could have said, “It is already mine,
after all!” I have seen it done in many
churches and heard of it being done in many more. But that is not what Abraham did.
He had truly surrendered his life
and will to that of God. The land was
his, but he did not grasp it. He did not
demand his right to the land. Here a
quick look at Philippians 2:5-8 would be beneficial. He could have taken it by force, but he
didn’t do so. Here a quick look at
Matthew 26:53 would be beneficial. What
he did was offered to buy it at a fair price and would not take it for
free. Here a look at the temptation of
Christ would be beneficial.
Abraham knew that his life was in
God’s hands. He knew that he was called
to follow God in the difficult and easy parts of life. He surrendered to the will of God in both
areas. In this he demonstrated the great
grace of God for others to see God and have a chance to glorify Him. That is what it is supposed to mean when we
sing, “All to Jesus I surrender, all to Him I freely give.” When we really do
that we can demonstrate the glorious grace of God to the world. The grace of
the life of Christ, the life surrendered to Him, was the life of Abraham’s
example.
You
may also enjoy this inspirational devotional book, The Gospel According to Molly,
available
here:
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