Subtitle: Confess to God your weakness and pride, and let Him save you again.

Excerpt: Confess to God your weakness and pride, and let Him save you again.

Author: Rich Holt

Scripture

Our verse for today comes from Jeremiah 38:18, ” But if you will not surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, this city will be handed over to the Babylonians and they will burn it down; you yourself will not escape from their hands. 

Background

I was talking with a co-worker the other day about one of our growers. This particular farmer is a great grower for us in South Florida, but he has had several years in a row of losing money each year. And this season is looking as bad or worse than any of the previous ones. So I mentioned to my buddy that it’s too bad that this farmer couldn’t just grow for someone else, utilizing his years of expertise, but not taking on the financial risk like he has done all his life. But he said that it just won’t happen. There’s too much pride in what he does and in running his farms as he wants them run. He has worked himself through all types of struggles in the past, and he clings to the hope that he can pull out of this pit as well. And that’s an admirable stance. He’s not looking for a handout or a bailout. His biggest concern is paying back the vendors that he owes money to, the ones who have extended him credit through the years.

Application

 Surrender can be a difficult concept to embrace. Depending on the situation, it can be the best choice or the worst choice. For someone like Zedekiah the king, surrendering to the Babylonians sounded horrific. But Jeremiah tells him that if he surrenders, he’ll save the city and himself. Otherwise, all is lost. And in our lives, we must see the results of our choices just as starkly. We must believe it makes an enormous difference whether we surrender or not. If we surrender, letting go of our pride, letting go of that destructive satisfaction that comes from feeling justified in being upset, we must trust that we are saved from all kinds of destruction that penetrates much deeper than our skin. Holding on to that sense of justification, while seeming right in our own kingdom, will certainly lead to all sorts of trouble. But if we believe that there is no middle ground of safety, where we control our response but relive the insult, then perhaps we’ll see that surrendering to forgiveness and humility is what saves. So surrender and know freedom. Surrender and let there be only one King in your life. Surrender to Him who saves what we call lost.

Charge

As we seek Him today, determine if there is an area where you have refused to surrender, choosing rather to enjoy pulling that old scab off of that wound time and again. Confess to God your weakness and pride, and let Him save you again.