Twenty-Eleven Times

Dale and Jimmy were playing in the back yard. It was Dale against Jimmy in a battle to the finish. They were only five-year-olds, but they both had high expectations of winning this war.

They hid behind trees and trash cans, fired make-believe bullets, missiles, and rocket launchers at each other and threw pretend hand grenades, but neither of them suffered an injury.

With that much pretend firepower it was amazing that either of them could survive. They were as invincible as Walker, Texas Ranger. After an hour of intense bombardment, Dale peeked around a tree and shouted, "Aren't you dead yet?"

"No way," countered Jimmy. "You haven't even come close. But I know I hit you twenty-eleven times."

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

Just before Jimmy and Dale engaged in hand-to-hand combat, the hop of a frog caught their attention and the war was over.

The backyard battle of five-year-old buddies raises an interesting point. Neither boy was willing to let the other win. No one wanted to surrender. Nor do we.

Let someone else win? Admit defeat? Yield? Give in? NEVER! That same spirit of self-dependence and self-preservation is often carried into our relationship with God.

To surrender is to let someone else have control. That is a difficult chore for most of us. We spend most of our lives struggling to gain more and more control of our lives. The last thing we want to hear is that we should surrender.

But we should. I should. You should. To give God control of your life is a sign of strength, not weakness. It is victory, not defeat.

"That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2:10-11, NIV).

Everyone will surrender sooner or later. Jesus is already Lord. The sooner you surrender your heart and the controls of your life to Him, the greater the victory will be in your life.

Hands Lifted...Defenses Down,
Perry Crisp