“The greatness of a man’s power is the measure of his surrender,” it says on the front page of a church newsletter, I have with me. The above is a quote by William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army.

The word surrender means to give up control of …. according to the Collins English Dictionary. Here we are talking about to give up control of our lives. I don’t need to tell you that the words yield and submit also mean surrender.

The following four verses from the Bible are teaching about surrender. Please notice the words yield and submit.

“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” – James 4:7 (NIV)

“Moreover, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we yielded [to them] and respected [them for training us]. Shall we not much more cheerfully submit to the Father of spirits and so [truly] live?” – Hebrews 12:9 (The Amplified Bible)

“… Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, …” – Ephesians 5:23,24 (NIV)

“Do not continue offering or yielding your bodily  members [and faculties] to sin as instruments (tools) of wickedness.

But offer and yield yourselves to God as though you have been raised from the dead to [perpetual] life, and your bodily members [and faculties] to God, presenting them as implements of righteousness.” – Romans 6:13 (The Amplified Bible)

Alexander MacLaren says this about self-sacrifice:

“All along the Christian course, there must be set up altars to God on which you sacrifice yourself, or you will never advance a step.”

Have you ever sung the hymn I SURRENDER ALL by Judson W. Van De Venter? The hymn has three verses and the chorus goes like this:

“I surrender all, I surrender all, All to You, my blessed Saviour, I surrender all.”

It is easy to sing, but do we really mean it, when we sing it?

POWER