To Give Him Everything

"To Give Him Everything"

(Copied from "The Pink Homestead Blog",

no longer in existance)

I surrender ALL. Do I truly mean it? All.

Every thought. Every action. Every word. Every decision. Every desire. Every dream. Too many times I look at those words and assign them to material things. I have this concept that it means to sell all my goods and live on faith or...something. But all. There I go again- putting God on restriction.

What I have learned this past year is that God wants everything. When I tell Him I surrender, He means it.

I've grown up with this idea that to be extreme for God is, well, extreme, and that is not a good thing. It's not normal. Nobody can quite explain why they look on it with such disdain. There is no answer for the questions such as "Why not? Why not be consumed with God?" The answer that popped into my head was "Well, I want to have a LIFE. I mean, I need to relax. I need to have fun. There is nothing wrong with enjoying myself."

What utter selfishness. I need to see it - God wants it all! He doesn't want the lukewarm heart, He wants the heart burning with fire where it is so hot with love for Him that everything is consumed, everything is cast aside just to get at Him. Dreams don't matter. Desires are changed. All the world has to offer be it ideas, history, philosophy, stories, movies, music, entertainment, it's all ash and emptiness in comparison.

A question that has been coming to my mind every time I do something is "How will I answer Jesus for this moment? If it is not completely focused upon Him, if it's spent upon myself...what will I say?" And I have to reply with what I know- there is no excuse. I will have none to give. Will that novel I wanted to read so badly even matter in eternity?

The whole point is...is if I love God completely and utterly, my time- my life will be given to Him. It won't be a sacrifice because I love Him. These entertainments I thought I so desperately needed, these "times of refreshment" won't be necessary because He is all the refreshment I could ever need.

When did we start thinking of attending to God as a chore? When did we start putting prayer on the 'to-do' list?

When did we stop loving Him?

Nothing matters when you’re in love. What has happened to our love?

I know what happened to mine. It was given to a variety of things- books, movies, hobbies, dreams. We give so many different names to coveting and lust.

I hope I'm not coming across as self-righteous. That's the last thing I want to be. I fail. I waste my time. I get indignant, I raise excuses when the Holy Spirit convicts me. I push Him aside.

But I need to ask you to tell God you'll give Him everything. It's hard, because He'll take you at your word, and life will never be the same again. The things that made you happy won't satisfy. Your hobbies will no longer hold your interest. He'll tell you what He wants, and if you won't do it, you'll receive such a reproach from the Holy Spirit as to make you heartbroken and repentant. He will bring your heart to it's knees, and it will be painful, but trust me, it's worth it.