Who is the Liar Now?
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service (Romans 12:1 NKJV).
Surrender ALL, Really?
We often sing a song where the chorus goes something like this:
I surrender all
I surrender all
All to Thee my blessed Savior
I surrender all
Recently I was singing that song and I began to wonder if I had really done that. Now I know that I should take up my cross (which is an instrument of death) and I should be willing to die for the Lord. I know that in Romans 12:1 Paul says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service (Romans 12:1 NKJV).” Have I done that? I confess that I have not.
I have a little money in savings, not much, but a little. Recently, my daughter was telling me about a girl she knew who was in need. I wondered if I should tap those meager savings and give the money to her. Frankly, even though my wife and I have lived “by faith” for many years without ever appealing for money, I don’t have enough faith to sign over those meager savings to someone who probably needs the money more than I do right now. Nope I am not going to sing this song again. I don’t want to be called disobedient and a liar as well.
Another Song that Makes Me wonder About our Theology
Sometimes we sing:
Jesus Paid it all, all to Him I owe.
As an accountant that word owe bothers me. If the Lord paid my debt, is He expecting me to pay Him back? Or is this like a birthday present where you feel obligated to make sure that you give a birthday gift to everyone that gave you one. Now I realize that there is a sense in which we do owe the Lord everything if we are really saved and sure of it. But the word “owe” implies obligation and anything that we do for the Lord after we are saved should be out of devotion and not out of obligation. The Lord considers my debt to be paid in full and for that I am thankful. Of course, because of my debt being paid, I have a story about getting what I did not deserve that I like to share with others. And when I can do something that I think will please the Lord, I would like to think that I am quick to respond. (Unless it involves my savings account.) But I am not sure I am going to keep singing, “All to Him, I Owe.”
Bruce Collins
Meditation for the week of January 17, 2021