LIFE GIVING SURRENDER

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“Furthermore, tell the people, ‘This is what the Lord says: See, I am setting before you the way of life and the way of death. Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine or plague. But whoever goes out and surrenders to the Babylonians who are besieging you will live; they will escape with their lives. I have determined to do this city harm and not good, declares the Lord. It will be given into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he will destroy it with fire.’”

Jeremiah 21:8-10

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Let’s look at a hypothetical situation.

We’re living in community with one another, I am your leader, and our community comes under attack. Our instincts tell us to do one of two things: either flee to safety or fight back and resist. Simply giving into our assailants would be counterintuitive to the natural way our bodies respond to danger, often referred to as fight or flight response.

Given this, how would you react if I as your leader told you that we needed to surrender in order to find life?

I’m sure that in the heat of the moment, many people would wonder if I was still suited to be the leader of the community because I obviously had lost my grip on sensibility.

Now with this scenario in mind, let me take you back in biblical history to the Old Testament Israelites during the prophet Jeremiah’s time. They had openly and blatantly sinned against God, willingly and willfully worshipping false gods and idols in His sight. God sent warnings through His prophet, commanding His people to stop and turn from their sins but they refused and so God went through with His promise of judgment in a big way. His punishment came in the form of an all out assault of the kingdom of Judah and the holy city of Jerusalem by the Babylonians, under the leadership of King Nebuchadnezzar.

What were the Israelites to do as they were being attacked? How would they respond?

Their instinct would be to fight or flee but that would be a costly mistake as we see in our scripture passage today for God makes it clear that the only right choice for His people was through life giving surrender. Look again at His guidance to the Israelites here:

“Furthermore, tell the people, ‘This is what the Lord says: See, I am setting before you the way of life and the way of death. Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine or plague. But whoever goes out and surrenders to the Babylonians who are besieging you will live; they will escape with their lives. I have determined to do this city harm and not good, declares the Lord. It will be given into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he will destroy it with fire.’”  Jeremiah 21:8-10

The words of the Lord were clear as He set before His people the way of life and death.

If they stayed in the city, perhaps trying to hide or fight and defend themselves, they would perish by a number of possible ways such as the sword, famine, or plague. None of them were options anyone would choose unless they were crazy. This was obviously the way of death.

So what was the way of life? How could the Israelites survive when they faced such terror and peril?

It would only come through life giving surrender. God said it Himself.

“Whoever goes out and surrenders to the Babylonians who are besieging you will live; they will escape with their lives.”

Giving up and giving in would lead to life for the Israelites. By losing all that they had, they would gain the opportunity to continue to stay alive and endure.

Guess what?

The same applies to us today.

Yes, the circumstances are different but the spiritual principle in play mimics the life or death proposition God placed before His people more than 2,000 years ago.

First of all, we are all sinners, fully deserving of God’s judgment, a judgment that will eventually take the form of all consuming fire. All stand guilty before Him, traveling the way of death and condemned to perish.

But God so loved the world that He gave His only Son so that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).

In other words, God gives us an option, a chance to step onto the way of life but it only comes through life giving surrender. We have to give up our worldly lives, trading them in for the life of Jesus, the Son God sent to save us, the Son who died and then lived again so we too might have the opportunity to one day do the same.

In the end translation, there are no other choices for us.

We can deny Jesus and forfeit the offer of everlasting life with Him and God or we can place our full hope and trust in Jesus, willingly accepting the gift of salvation extended to us so we may live forever for the scriptures are clear that Jesus is the only way to God the Father (John 14:6).

Which way will you go?

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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