SURRENDER

For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Matthew 16:25 ESV

There are many stories about General Robert E. Lee and General Ulysses S. Grant and the battles they fought. Both were dog owners. It is said that General Lee saved a terrier, he named Spec, from drowning. During his time in the White House, former General Grant owned a Newfoundland named Faithful and a dog named Rosie whom he talked to as he ate.

I’m not sure if any dogs were present on April 9, 1865 when the two generals met at Appmattox Court House in Virginia. Here, Lee surrendered the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia to Grant, marking the beginning of the ending of the American Civil War. Surrender means to cease resistance to an enemy or opponent and submit to their authority. It would be 16 months before the war officially ended as other confederate troops were not as quick to surrender.

When we surrender our lives to Jesus Christ, we cease resistance and submit to His authority. All the battles are not over though as the enemy of our souls keeps fighting. Ephesians 6 tells us to put on the full armor of God and to stand strong in the Lord. Verse 12 states, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms”. As we stand firm in the Lord, the victory is ours.

James 4:7 advises us, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you”. We surrender ourselves to God and resist the enemy and he will flee. The victory comes through full surrender to God.

Our example is Christ. He fully surrendered and gave his life for us. It looked like a total defeat as he lay in the grave to all involved until he appeared resurrected that first Easter morning. I Corinthians 15:3-6 puts it this way, ” For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep”.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Christ surrendered and won the victory. Surrender to him today. He’s already won the battle. Stand firm and look to Jesus and he will give you victory over any leftover skirmishes attacking you today.