We sing the popular hymn “I surrender all to Jesus” but few of us know the meaning of what we sing. We say things many times but fail to understand the depth and meaning of what we say. This is a truism in many areas of life. This is why fake news is so popular! I would like to propose a 4 step approach to apply the word surrender to real life.
1. Detachment
We cannot truly surrender unless we are fully detached. We get attached to many relationships and things in our life. Some of them are positive attachments and others negative. These attachments have some control of our life. A negative relationship can destroy our life as we see in many marriage breakdowns. A positive relationship can also bind us in ways where we feel bound. We can be attached to things like cars and other beautiful objects, food and hobbies. All these keep us engaged but also keep us from total surrender to Christ, whose command is that we have to leave all to follow Him. For example, He said that anyone who does not hate his mother and father cannot be His disciple (Luke 14:26). This is to detach from all things and relationships in this life and honour Jesus as Lord.
How do we detach from people and things? We need to distance ourselves in our mind from them. Imagine yourself separating from those relationships where you are attached. The person or thing now becomes more of an object and all strings are cut. This does not mean that we hate that person but we become more able to love that person with the love of Christ. There is no more manipulation to meet one’s own need through that relationship or thing. There are many things like money and addictions that we have an unhealthy attachment to. We can do the same to them.
2. Delete
Once we get detached we begin to delete all thoughts and feelings that remind us of our past attachment. We can imagine the legs being cut off and all attachments being severed. This is a process and in time the power of the attachments diminishes. We can only delete these thoughts and feelings when we have truly detached ourselves. This process occurs in our thought life. Every reminder of our past sins is a time to delete those memories. They are like illusions now and have no power. Just like lies they only have power when received or entertained. Sexual or lustful thoughts can be deleted in this way. In time it becomes easier as we persevere. The emotions that were aroused in the past diminish in their power and we will experience a release from their power. We are being healed in our soul through this process.
3. Deliverance
Once we have detached ourselves and are practicing deletion we will become free from any demonic infestation. This process removes any legal ground for any demons to remain as they will not have ground to stand. They will leave and will not be able to torment us as before. You will experience a power to overcome past habits and addictions which were empowered by a demonic presence. Deliverance becomes part of the process and the ground of your heart becomes fruitful. Where there was negativity before it is replaced with supernatural love. This is the process of transformation. Your perceptions change towards people and things.
4. Death
The last step in this process is death to self. Jesus said unless we die and take up our cross, we will not be able to follow Him. This death is a death to the self life. Our ego or self is always in the way to living a surrendered life. We were born to lead a selfish life. I, me and myself were always first. Now Jesus must be first and I must be last. This again is a process where we daily pick up our cross and follow Him. The more we do this the more we become like Jesus in our walk. Our talk becomes our walk. This is a life-long journey and for some it is faster than for others.
Life
Jesus promised us an abundant life when we follow Him. It is only through total surrender to Him that this is possible. We have tasted a little of what this means but there is much more. An abundant life is free of all sickness and disease, poverty and pain. Jesus was free of this when He walked on earth and showed us the way to achieve this. It is only by His Spirit that we can live this life. The more space we give to Him the more He will occupy. We need to be detached from all things to be attached to Him. Could it be that the reason we do not experience this abundant life here and now is because of our attachments to this world?
