Relinquish Control
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God— this is your true and proper worship.” - Romans 12:1
There is a story of a young man who on his 18th birthday asked his dad for the key to the car so that he could go out with his friends. His father gave him the keys but told him to return by 10:30pm because it was a school night. The young man replied, “I’m 18 years old now dad, nobody can tell me what to do.” So, his father took the keys and did not let the young man go out with his friends.
The next day he was at football practice and the coach told him to do 30 push-ups. He had the same response, “Coach, I’m 18 years old now, no one can tell me what to do.” So, the coach kicked him off the team.
Since the young man was no longer playing sports, he decided to get a job. Part of that job was sweeping up messes that had been made. When his boss told him to begin sweeping, he had the same response, “I’m 18 years old now, no one can tell me what to do.” He was then fired from his job. The same thing happened when he told his teacher he did not have to write a research paper. The boy then enrolled in the army to escape it all, and quickly learned the sergeant did not have time for his comment.
What the young man learned was that as much as he wanted to be in control of his life, there comes a time when you have to give up control and yield to a higher power. The same is true in a spiritual sense. Once you get saved and begin to live your life for Jesus Christ, you relinquish control and let the Holy Spirit take over. Romans 12:1 says, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sister, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.”
When you accept Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, you are relinquishing control of your life and giving it to Him. You are sacrificing your body and soul as an offering to the Lord so that He might use you for His Kingdom work to bring Him glory.
That being said, God does not want you to fight for control. He wants you to give it to Him and watch Him work in your life. For if you surrender, He will surely do things you could have never done on your own. So, give God control and watch what He does in and through your life!
There is a story of a young man who on his 18th birthday asked his dad for the key to the car so that he could go out with his friends. His father gave him the keys but told him to return by 10:30pm because it was a school night. The young man replied, “I’m 18 years old now dad, nobody can tell me what to do.” So, his father took the keys and did not let the young man go out with his friends.
The next day he was at football practice and the coach told him to do 30 push-ups. He had the same response, “Coach, I’m 18 years old now, no one can tell me what to do.” So, the coach kicked him off the team.
Since the young man was no longer playing sports, he decided to get a job. Part of that job was sweeping up messes that had been made. When his boss told him to begin sweeping, he had the same response, “I’m 18 years old now, no one can tell me what to do.” He was then fired from his job. The same thing happened when he told his teacher he did not have to write a research paper. The boy then enrolled in the army to escape it all, and quickly learned the sergeant did not have time for his comment.
What the young man learned was that as much as he wanted to be in control of his life, there comes a time when you have to give up control and yield to a higher power. The same is true in a spiritual sense. Once you get saved and begin to live your life for Jesus Christ, you relinquish control and let the Holy Spirit take over. Romans 12:1 says, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sister, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.”
When you accept Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, you are relinquishing control of your life and giving it to Him. You are sacrificing your body and soul as an offering to the Lord so that He might use you for His Kingdom work to bring Him glory.
That being said, God does not want you to fight for control. He wants you to give it to Him and watch Him work in your life. For if you surrender, He will surely do things you could have never done on your own. So, give God control and watch what He does in and through your life!
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