Absolute Surrender

ABSOLUTE SURRENDER

“I am thine, and all that I have.”
– I Kings xx. 4.

A LITTLE WHILE SINCE, DEAR LORD, Thou didst permit me to sign a contract for the building of a House of Prayer to the honor of Thy Name. This morning, on the table of my heart there rests another covenant, one I would fain renew with Thee, and to which I pray Thee to set Thy seal and signature. O my Lord, come near, I beseech Thee; look down with Thy great love upon me as I write these solemn words, “I AM THINE, AND ALL THAT I HAVE,” and let my soul hear Thy tender response, ” I have called thee by thy name; thou art Mine.”

     There is nothing on earth, O Lord, Thou knowest, that I desire so much as to be absolutely surrendered to Thee, and to Thy service. I want the fullest spiritual blessing Thou canst see fit to give me; and to obtain this, I do gladly yield up body, soul, and spirit – all that I am and have – into Thy loving hands, that Thou mayest reign over me, and rule within me as my absolute King and Master.

     Dost Thou ask me if I have counted the cost ? Yes, Lord, it means, “I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” This is the cost, but Thy grace is sufficient to meet it, and to fill Thy child’s heart with joy unspeakable at the thought that she is no longer her own, but “bought with a price.”

     “I am Thine.” Who has so great a right to me as Thou hast? Created by Thee, I belong of necessity to Him who made me. Daily preserved by Thee, the life Thou maintainest ought to be consecrated to Thy service. But the closest tie of all is that Thou hast loved me, redeemed me from death, purchased me with the price of Thine own blood, and thus bound me to Thyself for ever. O love amazing and Divine, why didst Thou do all this for one so unlovely and unworthy? It is but another instance of “Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Thy sight,” and, since it has pleased Thee to be thus gracious, and Thou hast made it possible for me to say, “I am Thine,” it must naturally follow that I should add, “and all that I have,” laying every possession and power at Thy dear feet; for what have I, Lord, of anything good or excellent which is not Thine own gift to me? 

     I pray Thee to grant that my surrender may be real, practical, and complete; not in word only, but in deed and in truth — not simply a spiritual submission, which might be counted easy and pleasant, but that constant denial of self and its pleadings, that keeping under of the body, and bringing it into subjection, which I find so difficult of attainment.

     If Thou hast given me but one talent, may that be so used as to bring the greatest possible interest of glory to Thee! My time must not be aimlessly frittered away, or merely employed for self-indulgence; but every hour should bear on its fast flying wings the witness of something said, or done, or thought, for Thee, my Master, or Thy service. My money all belongs to Thee, and every coin of it should be spent, as in Thy sight, and with Thy approval. I pray Thee, enable me, in this matter, to render a good account of my stewardship. Deliver me from the evil of looking on gold as a gift, to be used at my will and pleasure, instead of receiving it from Thee as a sacred loan or trust to be employed and expended only for Thy glory. Be it much or little which Thou dost bestow on me, help me from my heart to say, Thine.  “All that I have is Thine.”

     O my pitiful Lord, Thou wilt remember that my dearest and most precious possession is already in Thy safe keeping, and that Thou hast long since taught me, by a sorrowful experience, to measure earth’s losses by Heaven’s gain! Yes, Lord, I can bless Thee that Thou hast but removed my treasure into Thine own treasury, and gathered my priceless jewel into Thine own regalia. “Of Thine own have I given Thee ” when resigning into Thy arms that most dearly-beloved one who is now with Thee in the glory.

     Dear Lord, in taking him, Thou seemest to have taken ALL THAT I HAVE, so that it is no longer a question of “surrender,” but only of quiet, Absolute Surrender.. happy submission, as Thy will daily unfolds itself, and directs my work and my way. Lord, keep me ever thus in the secret hiding-place of Thy love,” as having nothing, yet possessing all things; it is so safe a shelter for a weary, waiting soul, and so blessed a way of being made meet for the coming inheritance!