Yielding Unto God

In 1872 on his third visit to Great Britain, D.L. Moody went to hear Evangelist Henry Varley, say in a stirring sermon, "The world has yet to see what God will do with a man fully consecrated to Him." That statement profoundly influenced Moody, and he is reported to have said,"By God's grace I will be that man."Because of the glorious possibility of a life completely yielded to the Lord, Mr. Moody left his mark upon his own generation and generations to come. It is general knowledge that he preached to 50 million people and spoke personally to hundreds of thousands more souls about Christ as Savior. Wilbur M. Smith once said in a sermon, "Moody took one continent in one arm and another continent in the other arm and rocked them both to God." The Scriptural basis for yielding unto God is found in Romans 6:13, “Do not present (yield) your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present (yield) yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.” Believers have been set apart by the Lord unto Himself from the world's doom and destiny. In recognizing this wonderful truth, we, in turn, should yield/present ourselves unto the Lord. The word "yield/present” (Rom. 6:13) comes from a Greek word that means to place beside, to present, or to put at one's disposal. The word "instruments" has reference to the weapons of the Greek soldier. "The Apostle Paul thinks of the members of the Christian body as weapons to be used in the Christian warfare against evil." (Wuest, Romans in the Greek New Testament, Eerdmans) This yielding of ourselves is to be motivated by the loving response of our redeemed hearts rather than out of coercion. Our loyalty is based upon gratitude and obedience to the Lord of our life. This yielding means that we are to use our time and talent to glorify God. By redemptive right the Lord has foremost claim upon our lives; thus we should let our lights shine for Him in this dark world (Matt. 5:16). Surrender and yielding to God are the practical outworking of salvation from the heart into life. Someone asked a famous Bible scholar what translation of the Word of God he liked best. Answering he said, "My mother's,” meaning that she translated the Bible into daily practice as she honored the Lord." Let us all be encouraged to use our time and talents to honor the Lord faithfully, for faithfulness is the golden key of success in the Christian life.