The Questions of Surrender and Sacrifice

I have been thinking of a lot of things lately.  Mostly I have been sitting silently, contemplating the goings on of people around me, and wondering how the different events in the lives of other people may have an influence in my own life.  It has been a personal thought experiment on the butterfly effect on my own life.  How will I act, or react, when the time comes for a decision?  What will be my motivation when I decide?  Will I be given a choice to act or a choice to accept whatever comes?

Then this verse pops into my head.  Romans 12:1 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”

Then a question or two comes:  What does God want from me now?  How will God get the glory in my life?  Am I willing to surrender everything to Him, to make any sacrifice no matter what is asked of me?

Tough questions to be sure, and not questions I am taking lightly.  I am struggling to lay down my desires, my self, my wants and perceived needs, and trying to let go of it all to allow God to ask of me whatever He will, and I am struggling to cultivate a willingness to accept whatever that may be, and make a purpose driven decision to let God have His will in my life.

In war, when a soldier surrenders, he gives up every right to self-determination after that.  His weapon, his personal effects, what he eats, where he sleeps, even his very life are given over into the hands of whomever he has surrendered to.  Not an easy thought to be sure, but if that person were God, shouldn’t it be easier?  Surrender.  Sacrifice.  Not so easy after all it seems.

I guess the start of it all is the questions themselves.  If I have surrendered to God, then shouldn’t the questions be something more like “What does God want to see done in this and every situation?  How will I act to be sure God gets the glory from this life that now belongs to Him?  How could I possibly say no to whatever sacrifice is called for?”