Start With Surrender
A Devotion
“Jesus called out to them, ‘Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!’” Mark 1:17
If you want to live a meaningful life, understanding the call of God is foundational.
There’s often confusion between the call of salvation and the call to a specific ministry or endeavor, but both are vital. If you’ve been saved by Jesus, you are called to serve, sacrifice, and surrender your life daily to Him in a variety of different ways.
Consider the first disciples. Simon, Andrew, James, and John were ordinary fishermen but they were each called to follow Jesus wholeheartedly. Their commitment to following Him exemplified complete surrender even though they didn’t know what it would look like. This set them apart and allowed God to work through them in extraordinary ways, something for which we are all benefitting from to this day.
I once read a story about a young man desperately eager to list out all his commitments to God—each promise was meticulously written down and then laid on the altar. Despite his detailed devotion, he still felt empty. A wise pastor counseled him to simplify his offering by replacing his exhaustive list with a blank sheet of paper bearing only his signature. This symbolized the young man’s complete surrender of not merely his actions, but his entire self.
It’s a good lesson for you today, too. True discipleship begins with surrendering your entire life to Christ.
This was adapted from a recent sermon by my pastor. You can get the sermon here.