Fully Surrendered

A few weeks ago, on Tuesday, April 18, I read Acts 20 as part of my daily Bible reading. When I read, verse 24 of Acts 20 stood out to me. It reads, “But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.” Paul is saying this to the leaders of the church of Ephesus before he leaves, knowing that this will be the last time he sees these fellow believers that he loves. I love this verse because it is almost as if it is Paul’s mission statement. It speaks of Paul’s selflessness, his obedience, and how he centered his life on the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

About noon, as I was eating lunch, I saw the news that Dr. Charles Stanley had passed away that morning. Dr. Stanley is probably the only famous preacher or pastor that I kept up with and looked up to, and like millions of others, my life and spiritual growth have been impacted in a significant way by Dr. Stanley’s ministry. 

On the day he passed away, a memorial website for Dr. Stanley was published under the URL charlesstanley.com. As I scrolled through this site, I noticed Acts 20:24 plastered prominently as a descriptor of Dr. Stanley’s life and ministry. The Lord brought this verse to my attention and then illuminated its relevance through how it has been modeled by a man of God. Acts 20:24 shows what a life fully surrendered to God looks like. 

A person who lives their life fully surrendered to God is, first of all, a humble and selfless individual. We see this evidenced in Paul’s life. When he says, “I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself,” Paul says it knowing that he is likely leaving these people to go to his death. He has suffered beatings, torment, and persecution, and he knows that that is what awaits him as he journeys where God directs. But this does not matter to Paul. He didn’t care about this life because he knew who he was. Paul was a servant of Christ, bought with a price by His precious blood. Therefore, no matter what man did to him, they could not touch his soul and they could not take away his hope, for his hope was rooted in Christ. He was in Jesus’ hand, and Jesus’ hand is wrapped in God the Father’s. Therefore, Paul could confidently journey on and pen the words that have encouraged and inspired Christians since Paul’s time: “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21).  

The Christian is called to be a selfless person characterized by humility. If we are to fully surrender our lives to God, we must not account our lives of any value except for what is done for Him. Philippians 2 tells us to have the same mind of humility that Christ had, for “he emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:7-8). Jesus provided the ultimate example of humility. He left Heaven, became human like you and me, and allowed Himself to be killed so that we might have life in Him. Now, since Jesus has laid down His life for us, “we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers” (1 John 3:16). We must live humble lives, sacrificing for others and building them up. 

A person who lives fully surrendered to God is, secondly, obedient to God. Paul said that he counts his life as valuable “if only [he] may finish [his] course and the ministry that [he] received from the Lord Jesus.” Paul knew what God had called him to do; he was obedient to this task and faithful until the end. 

We, likewise, are called to a life of obeying the Lord’s commands and ways. This is not to earn His love or favor but rather because He loves us. Jesus said in John 14:15, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Jesus, as we saw in the verses from Philippians, obeyed God to the point of death on the cross. Because of His obedience, we can be saved from sin and death. Jesus has shown us how and why we should obey. How can you step out in obedience to what God is calling you to do, how He wants you to live, and who He made you to be?

Finally, a person who is completely surrendered to God has built their life on the gospel. In this verse in Acts, Paul declares that he is living humbly and obeying God “to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.” The gospel is the good news that, although we are sinful and undeserving of God’s mercy and grace, Jesus came to earth, lived a perfect, sinless life, and paid the penalty for our sins, making it possible for us to be forgiven by God. This is where our hope is found. This is the truth, the message that saves us if we believe it and repent of our sins. If we are not living our lives to testify of salvation in Jesus, we are wasting our lives. God has saved us and commissioned us to take the gospel to others. We must do everything in our lives with a gospel-centered mentality. As Paul himself said, “I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings” (1 Corinthians 9:23). 

Let us build our lives on the gospel, telling the world that Jesus can save them from sin and death as He has commanded us to. It is only in building our lives on this fundamental truth, obeying the Lord in humility, totally surrendering to Him, that we find the purpose of our lives.