God is not calling us to impurity (I Thessalonians 4:7). Nor is He calling us to be fearful (II Timothy 1:7). Why then do we spend so much of our time pursuing sinful things and living in fear? Is it we do not understand our calling or do we just not care? I’m not convinced there is a third option, and neither of the choices is good! This thought alone should drive us to our knees.
If we are not living for Jesus, for what then are we living? Perhaps a better way to ask this is if Christ isn’t worthy of our lives, who or what is? Why are we not living our lives running away from sin and full of courage? Both are possible if we would only surrender to God.
Satan loves to use the tool of temptation to entice us into thinking and doing things that are inconsistent with the holiness of God. It’s why Paul entreats us to take every thought captive (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). When any thought that is not of Christ enters our mind, we should immediately hurl it away, changing our thoughts to something true, just, pure, honorable, lovely, commendable, or worthy of praise (Philippians 4:8).
Thoughts that do not fall into one of those categories are almost always from the evil one. He wants to saturate our minds with negative, impure, and fearful thoughts. Once he does that, he has effectively neutralized us in the spiritual warfare that swirls around us. We cannot advance the Kingdom of God when our minds are steeped in Hell. To surrender to God means we must guard our thoughts against any intrusion by the devil.
Peter warns us to be ever vigilant because Satan prowls around like a lion just waiting to devour us (1 Peter 5:8). That’s enough to instill fear in us. But we can take courage in the fact God always goes before us into battle; He will never leave our side (Deuteronomy 31:6). We know Jesus has already overcome everything the devil can hurl at us (John 16:33). Our Savior has overcome even the sting of death (1 Corinthians 15:55-57).
Who or what should make us fearful? We tend to feel fear when we’re afraid of physical harm or concerned about what people will think of us. There is no need to fear those who can only harm our bodies and not our souls (Matthew 10:28). Even if the worst should happen and we lose our life, it only means we will be in the presence of Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:6-8)! And why do we care what others think of us? As long as we are living in a way that pleases Jesus, we can be confident He will be our comfort.
When we surrender to God, sin will no longer draw us. James tells us if we simply resist Satan’s overtures, he will run away from us (James 4:7). That’s the power of Jesus in our lives. When we cling to Christ, Satan can’t stand to be around us. Neither should we ever be fearful. When you feel afraid, remind yourself Jesus is right there with you. What is there to fear when the all-powerful Creator of the universe has your back? His love surrounds you, and nothing can separate you from it (Romans 8:38-39).
God calls us to surrender to Him. When we do, our lives will be purer and more courageous than we have ever experienced. Who doesn’t want to live like that? If you want to live life to the fullest, surrender to God. Jesus died to show complete submission to the plan of God and He rose from the dead to show complete victory over sin and fear. He overcame it all and in Him, we too are overcomers (1 John 5:3-4). Surrender to God and experience life as Christ meant it to be.