Submit yourselves to God...

Submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil and he will flee. – James 4:7

These days, not many of us like discussing or even pondering the word “submit” or closely-related words like “surrender.” The idea of surrendering often brings up old war movie images of being taken captive, held in a dank, dark prison cell against our will and fed week-old stale and moldy bread and brown water passed to us through a four by eight slot in a big iron door. Not a pleasant image by any stretch of anyone’s imagination.

In the natural, surrendering to someone does often mean we will be held captive in conditions not exactly designed for our pleasure. In the spiritual, only when we surrender to God will we experience true freedom. Freedom from what? How about from being held captive by the old nature of sin and the death penalty that accompanies any and all who are unrepentant and reject the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God and savior of the world through his death, burial and resurrection. Not bad, eh?

Ironically, the actual word “surrender” is not found in any of the commonly used translations or paraphrases of the original Hebrew and Greek manuscripts. However, the idea of surrender or submission is plentiful throughout scripture, primarily in the New Testament. Jesus is our best example as he surrendered his will, his feelings, his desires, his life, to the purpose God had for him.

Elsewhere, we are commanded by several writers, most notably the Apostle Paul, to submit or “surrender” ourselves one to another, confessing our sins that we might be washed by the washing of the word of God. Wives are also strongly encouraged to surrender to their husbands. But it doesn’t stop there. Men have the more binding job of surrendering to Christ in the same way that he gave his life for the church.

The universal signal for surrender is the raising of both arms with palms turned outward. Interestingly enough, that is also a commonly used signal that someone is involved in worshipping or “surrendering” to God. It is only when we completely surrender to God that we experience true freedom. And perhaps the best part about surrendering to God is that he feeds us pretty well and doesn’t keep us locked up. “Whom the Son sets free is free indeed!” (John 8:36)

Give it a try. You’ll be blessed. I guarantee it.

-Ben Hanneman