Loosed for the Lord

Absolute Surrender. It’s the title of a recent book I read by Andrew Murray and also a principle I find extremely hard to apply. I understand the idea; we ought to lay every ounce of our desires and motives at the foot of our king. All of our goals, our rights, every inclination of our soul must be brought before His court. This all sounds very grandiose and pious until I picture this little scene playing out in reality. How comical it would be. And how much more so if your desires were represented by physical idols you had to carry into the room. Every silly ambition received its own golden shrine, sized according to its importance in your life.

Do you seek recognition and the respect of our peers? Perhaps you would be straining under the weight of a giant statue of yourself. Vanity and beauty? Maybe an entourage of fashion designers and models would accompany you. Adventure and excitement? I fear His thrown would be lost among my pile of gilded skis and motorcycles. Yeah God, I’m sorry about the clutter, but I there’s just so much I want out of life. In comes Gabriel with a front loader, pushing my idols into the furnace.

I wish it were this literal.