God Wants All Of You

DAILY VITAMIN
- God Wants All Of You
"Anyone who wants to be my follower must love me far more than he does his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, or sisters -yes, more than his own life- otherwise he cannot be my disciple." (Luke 14:26 TLB)
     A lot of us Christians sing about how we want more of God when in reality all we really need to do is give Him more of us. That is what the Christian walk is all about, affording God access to more of us. The scripture says that God has given us Himself in wonderful fullness (Titus 3:6); in other words, there's nothing of God that He hasn't given to you as an heritage, but to fully maximize it we have to also give Him all of ourselves.
    Many years ago, the Lord taught me from Luke 18:21-22 what I needed to do most to maximize the life of God in me. It says "The man replied, "I have obeyed every one of these laws since I was a small child". "There is still one thing you lack", Jesus said. "Sell all you have and give the money to the poor - it will become treasure for you in heaven - and come, follow me." (TLB).
    Please never misconstrue the truth in this context to mean exclusively that God wanted the young man to give all his money away. No! God doesn't need our money; people might, but not God. However, God used money in his conversation with this young chap because it was the only thing standing in the way of his complete devotion to God. And I was like that young man, even if it wasn't about money for me. And so are you.
    You see, it's not always about what God wants. It's odd seeing that He's supreme, but it's true. Sometimes it's about what we do in response to what He wants - the power of freewill. A lot of us keep some things from God. We tell Him, "You can have anything from me, but don't ask for my job or home or what have you". We don't give Him complete access to all we are and have. With that man it was his wealth; with Abraham, it was his treasured son; with us, it could be something else. And our theme scripture says we can't truly serve until we realize that nothing we have is ours. That was what Ananias and Sapphira never understood, and so conspired to deceive the God who make all things available (Acts 5:1-10). They so much desired the gift more than the giver, that they were even willing to lie for it.
     Again, I say, God doesn't need your money; He didn't need theirs, and He didn't need that young chap's as well. He wants something more; He wants you. Because that's where the true value lies; and He wants you to understand that too. Let us learn from Paul who said "But all these things that I once thought very worthwhile - now I've thrown them all away so that I can put my trust and hope in Christ alone. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have put aside all else, counting it worth less than nothing, in order that I can have Christ" (Phil 3:7-8 TLB). Hence, give Him all of you.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, I know I'm nothing without you. I know my value comes from knowing and having you. I know you have given me your presence in wonderful fullness, and I'm grateful for that. And now I surrender myself completely to you, that I may become all you desire of me. I know my best days reside in and only in you; and that is why I'm confident that this will lead to a marvelous change in my life now and forever. Amen.