Think about how you would treat someone if they died for you
You would speak of their name in reverence.
You would live in remembrance of them.
You would play the game for them.
You would do the job in their honor.
How much more, then, should we be living our lives for Jesus?
Love that has boundaries doesn’t willingly hang on the cross that we should have been nailed to. Jesus loved us beyond our wildest expectations of love itself. Since we are inherently selfish beings, our love has boundaries, but Jesus loved us so much that while we were nailing him to that tree, He still hung there and died for us. I’d say He took the phrase “I would take a bullet for you” to the extreme.
Live like someone died for you. Because Someone did.
Live every day knowing that you are special. You are more beautiful than all of creation. You are His child. YOU ARE WORTH DYING FOR.
So, if He ended His earthly life for ours, why would we even hesitate to “take the bullet” and surrender our earthly lives for Him??
Lose your life in order to save it.
If God calls you, go. If He instructs you to end a relationship, quit a job, or change your major, do as He says. If He shatters your plans, let Him, for His plans are greater than yours will ever be and his faithfulness is unending. If He loved us enough to die for us, He absolutely loves us enough to not lead us astray.
This is something I’ve struggled with my whole life.
It has been an endless cycle of:
“How can I possibly give up all control?????” followed by “BUT HOW COULD I NOT LEAVE IT IN GODS HANDS??” (and repeat)
It is so hard to not be in control. It is so hard to not put myself on a pedestal. It is so hard to ignore what society deems as “successful”.
In the story of Zaccheus the tax collector, Jesus tells him to come down out of the tree he is in. Up until a conversation I had with a professor recently, I interpreted this passage as Jesus simply telling him to get out of the tree so that Jesus could witness to him and subsequently change his way of life.
I was missing it. I didn’t get it.
Despite the countless times I had read this story and heard sermons over it and despite the countless times I had sang the song (“Zaccheus was a wee little man…”) and referred to this story in my everyday life, I always looked over the fact that Jesus was telling him to “COME DOWN” from the tree. He was instructing His child to come down from his selfishness. To come down from his desire to be “successful”.
When was the last time that I checked my motives? When was the last time I sat down and truly contemplated whether or not my aspirations were God’s will or mine?
My whole life has been about finding ways to be the best. The funniest. The most determined. The most athletic. The prettiest. The most popular.
But I mean, NEWS FLASH CALLIE!! This isn’t why Jesus died on the cross for you!! The whole point of my life is to bring glory to Him – in whatever way He leads me to.
So here I am. Right now. Finally giving it all up.
There is a voice in my head telling me, “Callie, you’ve said that before!”
And I’m sure I’ll say it again, but I can assure you that its different this time. When I have said it before, I was still holding on to something. I was still holding on to the need for control of my life.
On the online application for the World Race, we had to select our struggles. I’m not gonna lie… I almost didn’t even select the one that said “controlling/ arrogant.” Even though I did, I still qualified it in my short answers.
Truth be told, I do struggle with control. I have a desire to be in control of my future plans, my happiness, my relationships, and other earthly things. While, of course, I aim to always present my requests before the Lord, I am always holding on to a little part of my life.
BUT TODAY I’M LETTING GO.
Who cares if I don’t have a plan? Who cares if I don’t know where I’ll be in five years? Who cares if my future isn’t “normal” or “secure”?
Security, in terms of society, is having the job, the house, the safe neighborhood, the nice car, the full bank account, and the plan.
Jesus redefines that though. Because of Him, our security should be found simply in our identity as His children.
I’ve finally realized that my success isn’t defined by a degree on my wall, a perfect future, an amazing career that puts me on top, or even the letters “MD” behind my name.
Jesus was raised up on the cross so that we could bow down and live our lives in a state of surrender.
So, finally, I am able to say that “I surrender all”.
Everything that happens in my life: my future career, whether it be in the medical field or solely in the mission field (or neither???), my future marriage (hopefully), my future home (who knows where on earth that will be), and even my near future as I finish out this semester of college and begin my journey on the world race, is all in His hands and all for His glory!!!
As before, I humbly ask that you join me in prayer for our team and those we will encounter on this journey. Furthermore, I ask that you would prayerfully consider supporting me financially with a gift of any amount.
Thanks for reading and supporting- y’all are the best!!!!!
With love,
Callie 🙂
“This job has been given to me to do. Therefore, it is a gift. Therefore, it is a privilege. Therefore, it is an offering I may make to God. Therefore, it is to be done gladly, if it is done for Him. Here, not somewhere else, I may learn God’s way. In this job, not in some other, God looks for faithfulness.”
Elisabeth Elliot
