Take ALL of me, Jesus

I could not help but overhear the conversation being carried on in a church’s coffee shop. The beautifully dressed woman was talking to two friends. She had her Bible laying there in front of her on the table and she was about to attend a worship gathering. To every appearance, she was a Christian. Her manner of speaking did not reflect the spirit of Jesus! A torrent of criticism, bitter words without love or compassion, spilled out of her.

After a couple of moments, I moved away and given her self-obsession, I wondered how she would worship ‘in Spirit and in truth.’ Lest you think I’m a judge only of another, I will hasten to tell you that when I went into the church’s sanctuary and prayed before the first song, the Holy Spirit led to remember my own manner of speaking in a conversation the prior day! My prayer in that moment was one we all need to pray often- “Jesus, take all of me!”


The Scripture calls us to serve Jesus with an unquestioning obedience. "Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness." (Romans 6:16-18, NIV)

Michael Spencer writes: “Invest yourself in anything, from watching South Park to obsessing over your lawn, and it will alter the kind of person you are. Human beings aren’t static, but dynamic. We change. We are influenced, nurtured, moved, and moldable.” (Mere Churchianity, Waterbrook, 2010)

I want to invest myself in Jesus, so as to enter into the paradox of being a ‘free slave!’ It is difficult for us to accept that by giving away our right to self-rule we discover the highest form of liberty. The Scripture asks to ponder the cost of hanging onto our natural impulses and inclinations. "What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life." (Romans 6:21-22, NIV)

From the depth of your being, pray this surrender: “Take all of me, Jesus!” Let Him own you and find the freedom to be who He purposes and enter, right here and now, into eternal life.

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"Gotta Serve Somebody"

You may be an ambassador to England or France
You may like to gamble, you might like to dance
You may be the heavyweight champion of the world
You may be a socialite with a long string of pearls.

But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You're gonna have to serve somebody,
It may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody.

You may be a preacher with your spiritual pride
You may be a city councilman taking bribes on the side
You may be working in a barbershop, you may know how to cut hair
You may be somebody's mistress, may be somebody's heir.

But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes
You're gonna have to serve somebody,
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody.

Might like to wear cotton, might like to wear silk
Might like to drink whiskey, might like to drink milk
You might like to eat caviar, you might like to eat bread
You may be sleeping on the floor, sleeping in a king-sized bed.

But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You're gonna have to serve somebody,
It may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody.

Copyright – Bob Dylan

Judy Collins sings it.

http://il.youtube.com/watch?v=bYam0tQfPrU&feature=related