Surrender?
Well...I am reading in the Book of Jeremiah right now. Much of this book has a sad sound...the people of Israel are a mess, spiritually rebellious, and the nation is on the brink of final judgment. Not cheery stuff...but the text I have for today DOES give us something to think about!
Jeremiah 21:8-10 says, "Now you shall say to this people, ‘Thus says the LORD: “Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death. He who remains in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence; but he who goes out and defects to the Chaldeans who besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be as a prize to him. For I have set My face against this city for adversity and not for good,” says the LORD. “It shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.”
Putting it in the clearest and quickest way, God tells the people of Judah to either accept judgment and live- to surrender their independence to the Babylonian King and army, or to refuse and die. Yay! Not an easy choice.
You see, nobody LIKES to surrender. There is always the hope that SOMEHOW they can win...or the enemy will tire and leave...or God will forget how badly we all trated Him and how unfaithful we were and will pull out some miracle to save the day.
THOSE are the types of story changes we like. WE don't have to surrender. WE don't have to accept judgment. WE don't have to CHANGE. If we were wrong, it is no big deal...just accept the formal little slap on the wrist and go on with living. But God...
...had HAD ENOUGH. God saw that the problem in Judah wasn't a temporary problem. They weren't CONFUSED, or LACKING DATA. They weren't doing what they chose to do because of an emergency stress from the outside. No one FORCED them into sin. They WANTED to be here...the rot was at the heart, not on the surface alone.
And God had decided that this was the way to bring His people back into faithfulness. History would show that it was the right course to cure Israel from idolatry. But it was a hard road. And no one, including this guy writing at the moment, LIKES the hard road. No one, including myself, LIKES to have to surrender.
Sometimes, though, surrender is the right choice. Surrendering our self-will. Surrendering our RIGHTS. Surrendering our plans. Surrendering our "logical view of the world." Oh, how people struggle with that last one!
I am not saying that surrender in all situations is the greatest good- it is not. There are "hills to die on", fights worth all that is in us. But usually, when fighting God...something we do too easily and too often, surrender is the only sensible option. Surrender and live. Surrender and learn. Surrender and change.
If you had lived at this time in Scripture...what would YOU have chosen?
Jeremiah 21:8-10 says, "Now you shall say to this people, ‘Thus says the LORD: “Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death. He who remains in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence; but he who goes out and defects to the Chaldeans who besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be as a prize to him. For I have set My face against this city for adversity and not for good,” says the LORD. “It shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.”
Putting it in the clearest and quickest way, God tells the people of Judah to either accept judgment and live- to surrender their independence to the Babylonian King and army, or to refuse and die. Yay! Not an easy choice.
You see, nobody LIKES to surrender. There is always the hope that SOMEHOW they can win...or the enemy will tire and leave...or God will forget how badly we all trated Him and how unfaithful we were and will pull out some miracle to save the day.
THOSE are the types of story changes we like. WE don't have to surrender. WE don't have to accept judgment. WE don't have to CHANGE. If we were wrong, it is no big deal...just accept the formal little slap on the wrist and go on with living. But God...
...had HAD ENOUGH. God saw that the problem in Judah wasn't a temporary problem. They weren't CONFUSED, or LACKING DATA. They weren't doing what they chose to do because of an emergency stress from the outside. No one FORCED them into sin. They WANTED to be here...the rot was at the heart, not on the surface alone.
And God had decided that this was the way to bring His people back into faithfulness. History would show that it was the right course to cure Israel from idolatry. But it was a hard road. And no one, including this guy writing at the moment, LIKES the hard road. No one, including myself, LIKES to have to surrender.
Sometimes, though, surrender is the right choice. Surrendering our self-will. Surrendering our RIGHTS. Surrendering our plans. Surrendering our "logical view of the world." Oh, how people struggle with that last one!
I am not saying that surrender in all situations is the greatest good- it is not. There are "hills to die on", fights worth all that is in us. But usually, when fighting God...something we do too easily and too often, surrender is the only sensible option. Surrender and live. Surrender and learn. Surrender and change.
If you had lived at this time in Scripture...what would YOU have chosen?
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