RUN LIKE A CHAMPION

A friend once asked a Christian leader from Romania why the church in the Western world had lost its power with God and with man. The Romanian Christian leader answered by identifying what I believe is one of the church’s greatest problems. He said, “The church has substituted commitment for surrender.” He was right. Today there are many hard working and committed Christians, but few surrendered ones.
There’s a great difference between the surrendered life and the committed life. The committed life emphasizes what we must do for Christ. The surrendered life says we can do nothing. The committed life communicates our accomplishments, but the surrendered life cries for God’s power. The committed life is that of a hard worker, but the surrendered life is that of a slave.
Surrender to Christ means we have yielded our will to His will. We have no rights. We have signed our life over to Him. We will go where He wants us to go and do what He wants us to do. We will speak what He wants us to speak and be what He wants us to be. The surrendered life admits that Christ has won the victory over our will. It allows Him to accomplish His work in and through us. It prays as Jesus prayed, “Not my will, but thine be done” (Luke 22:42 kjv).
I was ministering with a group of young people in what was then East Germany. At that time, it was very dangerous to meet with me. At the close of the meeting, one came to me and said, “I came to know Christ some time ago. However, I have lost the joy of what Christ has done in my heart.” We prayed together, and I will never forget her prayer.
“Take control of my life, dear God,” she prayed, “no matter what the cost.” After I finished praying with her, I looked around — and all of the young people were on their knees, praying. Every one had the same phrase at the end of their prayer. One prayed, “I surrender to you, God, no matter what the cost.” Each counted the cost and surrendered fully to God. It was a touching moment.
I’ve often heard Christians commit themselves to God in prayer. But what I heard from those East German young people was much more than commitment. It was absolute surrender to the will of God. They were willing for God to take control of their lives no matter the cost. And it did cost them. It cost them their educational opportunities — their future. But they had become slaves of Jesus. Interestingly, this slavery is what made them victorious.
I once asked Dr. Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, if there was ever a watershed moment in his Christian life that propelled him into the work that God had given him. He told me, “Years ago, Vonette and I made a decision to become slaves of Jesus Christ. That decision set the course of my entire Christian life and ministry.”
It’s only as we become slaves of Jesus that we experience His victory. It’s only as we lose our will to His will that we find joy in life. It’s only as we die to our abilities that we can appropriate His supernatural abilities. It’s only as we are surrendered to Him that we know His supernatural ability. It’s what the old hymn writer said: “All to Jesus, I surrender. All to Him I freely give.” That’s when victory begins.