This week we focus on the Lenten theme of taking up our cross and following Jesus.
Words of Reflection
We live in a society that values perseverance and commitment. In many circles, “Never give up—never surrender!” is more than a movie quote…it is an almost sacred motto. To give up is to lose, they say—to surrender is to show weakness. No matter what, we need to stay the course and see our commitments through to the end. But what if the things we’re committed to are misguided, wrong, or even destructive? What good is persevering if we’re headed in the wrong direction?
Sometimes surrender is healthy. Sometimes giving up is good.
When Jesus calls us to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow him, he’s inviting us to give up: give up our vain desires, our empty pleasures, our illusion of control, and our attempts to infuse our lives with a sense of purpose. Time and again these pursuits only leave us empty and frustrated. Jesus comes into that emptiness and offers us the fullness of himself, and he comes into those frustrations with the reminder that true purpose and authentic joy come only from surrendering ourselves to him without reserve.
But sometimes it’s those words “without reserve” that get in the way. Sometimes the reason we fail to experience in full what God has for us is that our surrender isn’t complete. Sometimes we think we can get by without giving up. Jay Carty, a basketball player who spent his latter years as a Christian teacher and speaker, called this having “eclairs in the refrigerator.” The picture he described was someone who said they were fully committed to a diet plan to lose weight and get healthy, yet they kept a box of chocolate eclairs in the refrigerator “just in case.” Their commitment was an illusion, and their plan was destined to fail because they hadn’t surrendered fully to the journey.
Lent reminds us that giving up is good. Not just in the sense that we give something up for these 40 days, although that can serve us well as a discipline and a tool. But in the bigger picture Lent teaches up that giving ourselves over completely to the love of God, though it costs us everything, is the only path to wholeness as his children. We need to hold nothing back.
Because when we give up…we gain.
Scripture for Meditation:
I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
—John 15:1-4 (NIV)
Song: I Give Up
I belong, I belong to the maker of earth and seas
Who's as rich as a king
Yet so gentle and kind towards meI am not cared for by a servant hired
But a shepherd who would leave the ninety-nineSo when I give up, I gain
When I let go of having my own way
When I learn to see my surrender as a brand new start
To know the fullness of my father's heartI will rest, I will rest
Not in worldly security
Not in what I may try to control that's controlling meWhat if faith is simpler than I've made it be
Just a simple trusting in your love for meFor when I give up, I gain
When I let go of having my own way
When I learn to see my surrender as a brand new start
To know the fullness of my father's heartMy father’s heart
So here's my life to take
Though you've heard this prayer a thousand other days
Make this moment more than just empty words I say
Let it be a start
To know the fullness of my father's heartTake my life and let it be
Consecrated Lord, to thee
Laura Story
© 2019 Laura’s Stories and Songs
Questions for Contemplation:
What does commitment to God “without reserve” mean to you? How has God shown grace to you as you seek to live out that kind of surrendered life?
Do you have any spiritual “eclairs in the refrigerator?” Are there parts of your life where you still seek a sense of control? How might God be calling you to let go and trust him more with those areas?
Spend some time considering the following quote from C.S. Lewis. Read it slowly and prayerfully. Don’t be surprised if it provokes you. If it does, sit with that for a while. Ask the Holy Spirit to use whatever reactions you have to stir you and teach you.
“Christ says 'Give me All. I don't want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want You. I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it. No half measures are any good. I don't want to cut off a branch here and a branch there, I want to have the whole tree down…Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think innocent as well as the ones you think wicked--the whole outfit. I will give you a new self instead. In fact, I will give you Myself.’”