TOTAL SURRENDER

Faith Filled Thoughts
August 7th, 2008
By Connie Ciccone
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Faith Filled thoughts released (mon –fri)

TOTAL SURRENDER



Scripture: Luke 5:5 "At thy word I will."

Jesus led Peter, step by step, into a place of total surrender. As the people pressed in upon Jesus to hear the word of God, He asked Peter if He could use his boat for a platform to teach the people. Peter and his men were very exhausted and discouraged. They had fished all night long and caught nothing. Dragging heavy nets is not an easy job and they just wanted to finish washing their nets, go home, and rest so that they could go out again in a few hours. The last thing they may have wanted to do was to sit there and listen to Jesus teach. Peter could have told the Lord that he was too tired and too discouraged to let Him use his boat. How many of us would go to church the morning after we had worked all night? Yet, despite his tiredness, Peter responded to the Lord's request and allowed Him to use his boat. We see the results of Peter's submission as he forgot his own worries and fatigue and sowed his boat back into the Lord's work. Peter reaped more than he sowed, for God gave back to him a miraculous haul of fish in a very short time.

Peter's boat was his business and the source of his income. It also represented his life. God requires no less from us. He wants us to show Him that He is first place in our lives by submitting all that we have to Him for His use. Most of us do not own a boat but we do have other assets that represent our lives such as our businesses, our homes, or our finances. Everything we have came to us because of the grace of God and belongs to Him. We are only the stewards of those blessings. We usually don't mind lending these things to the Lord when it is convenient, but how would we respond if we had been out all night working and God decided that He wanted to use our home or business to minister to others? Would we tell the Lord that we were too tired and try to postpone His plan? Would we refuse His request because we were discouraged, as things were not going well for us?

Jesus used Peter's business in a unique way and at a most inconvenient time for Peter and his men. God usually moves in our lives in the same way. When He calls us to do something for Him, it seems that His thoughts and His plans never coincide with ours. Yet most of us have learned from experience that His ways are always better than our ways, and His plans are higher than our plans. We must be ready at all times to submit everything that we are and everything that we have to God. As we do, we will discover that we are God's link to the world. And like Peter, we will find that when we seek to take care of God's business, God will take care of ours.

May He Bless You and Keep You Today!

With Great Love
IN HIS SERVICE
Connie