Surrender means to give up, to abandon, to yield or resign. I have always considered "Surrender" in a negative context. I have to give up something or stop doing something. Such as in the imagery of putting one's hands up (as in CSI or Blue Bloods) when someone is being arrested in the presence of the police. The person is guilty and they "surrender" and show they have nothing in their hands. 

The other day, as I was thinking about surrender, the Lord challenged me about this word. Instead of NOT being able to do something or refraining from a task...what if surrender was TO something? What if I would surrender TO God? He is not a taskmaster or an unrelenting tyrant. God is love and joy and peace and patience and kindness, He is faithful.

Graham Cooke says that "God does not see what is wrong with us because He nailed all those things to the Cross and has no desire to resurrect them. He only sees what is currently missing from our experience of Christ and is deeply committed to that ongoing experience by the power of the indwelling Spirit."

One of the Hebrew words for praise is "Yadah". It's an action word that means "to throw or hold out the hand, to worship with extended hand, as in victory or surrender." As I was praying, instead of the hands up in the air as in being "guilty", I saw my hands reaching out to my Daddy, God, as a small child reaches out to be held. Wow...what a revelation that was for me. No condemnation, just pure joy from my heavenly Father as He wants me to surrender to Him so that I grow in intimacy with Him and become more like Him day by day. 

Galatians 5:22-25 (NLT) "But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives."

May we all reach out to our Heavenly Father in a fresh awareness of surrender. 

This post is part of Kate Motaung's "Five Minute Friday," which she hosts on the Five Minute Friday website. Kate posts a single word each week and each blogger sets a timer for 5 minutes to write and then posts, with very little editing. Check out the other writers this week!