THE JOY OF YIELDING INTRODUCTION • In our relationship with God there is a wonderful aspect in which we can yield ourselves to Him. • It’s not always something people readily understand. • Our lives can be so busy and consuming that we never learn the art of yielding ourselves to God or we just don’t include it in our daily Christian lives. • I remember learning about this in a church that I was involved in. We were taught how to yield ourselves to God and we were actively encouraged to pursue it as part of our Christian walk. As a result many of the people in our church enjoyed a deeper relationship with God and it was an enriching experience. • You can also discover the joy of yielding your life to God, not just once, but on a regular and preferably on a daily basis. 1. IT STARTS AS WE SURRENDER OUR LIVES TO GOD • When we become children of God and give our lives to Him, this is where the whole process starts. • You see HE knocks at the door of our hearts and if we will open up and yield our lives to Him, He will come and live within us and everything changes. • This is what is called being Born Again. • God becomes the Lord of our lives and we surrender our lives and future into His hands. • But this is only the start. • From this point on we have a relationship with God and we can discover the joy of yielding our lives to Him each and every day. • It becomes a voyage of discovery as we develop our relationship with our living Saviour and Lord, Jesus. • Our spiritual lives can become more than a one-off experience as we develop and grow in our relationship. 2. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YIELD? • The word ‘yield’ is not a modern word, nor is it a word we hear every day. But it is a word that can help us as we pursue a closer more intimate relationship with God. • We started off and looked at how yielding means surrendering our lives to God. • The word yield is a verb, it is something we do. • It includes: to bring, to present, to surrender, to give right of way, to give as fitting or rightfully owed, or required and to submit. • Perhaps if we look at the opposite we can grasp this concept a little easier. • The opposite of yield is to resist, reject and to hold off! • It can even go further to include stubbornness and what the Bible calls ‘stiff-necked’. • So we don’t want to resist or reject God. We certainly do not want to hold off on God. But we want to embrace and give to Him what belongs to Him, our hearts and our lives. • We want to give Him right of way in our lives. 3. RIGHT OF WAY • In a modern context the word yield is used in traffic signs. • We all know what a yield sign is. • When we see a yield sign we usually back off and give priority to another person. • If we can see this picture in our minds it will help us give God the right of way that He deserves in our lives. • A right of way is a legal right of passage over another persons property. • We have the right of way over our lives, it is what we call freewill. • But when we give our hearts and lives to God and receive Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, we give up that right and we give God the right of way in our lives. • But as we apply this to our daily lives we often revert back and take back this right of way to some degree or another. • It is for this reason that we need to on an on-going basis yield ourselves to God and in the process honoring the right of way we have already given Him. • It is a joy and a delight to do this. 4. YIELDING OURSELVES TO GOD • We can ‘yield’ ourselves to many things. • This may be things that honour God, but also they may be things that do not. • We have to keep a check on our lives. • In the older Bible translations the word yield is used but in newer versions the word yield is replaced with the word offer. • In my mind they do not carry the same weight because yielding speaks of surrender and offering speaks of a suggestion. • So I have taken the newer translation and I have included the word yield so that we can see the difference. • Romans 6:13 Do not offer (yield) any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer (yield) yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer (yield) every part of yourself to Him as an instrument of righteousness. • Yielding ourselves to God is what we are called to do. • We should not give any aspect of our lives to sin and no aspect of the way we live our lives should ever be seen as an instrument of wickedness. • Instead we should give ourselves to God as if our lives depend on it and in everything we do our lives should be seen as an instrument of righteousness. • This should change the way we live our lives. • And it should be something we constantly strive for and something we pursue regularly. • Please notice that it says ‘every part of yourself’ should be yielded in this way. 5. HOW DO WE ACTUALLY YIELD OURSELVES TO GOD? • I have led people in worship for many years. I have seen that some people seem to enter in and give themselves to God with such ease, while others find it difficult. • But over the years I have learnt that it is not that difficult. • It just takes a little time and the conscious presenting, offering and yielding ourselves to God. • This scripture indicates that we should yield, offer and surrender ourselves to God and offer and yield every part of our lives to Him. • I believe that it is something we can do every day. I believe it is something we can do when a moment in time presents an opportunity to do just this. • I believe we can do it right now. • Here are some simple steps: I often like to close my eyes so that things do not distract me and often I will lift my hands as a sign of surrender. 1. Take a moment to be still and quiet. The Bible tells us to ‘Be still, and know that I am God!’ (Psalm 46:10) 2. Confess any wrong in your life that you are aware of. The Bibles tells us that: ‘If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.’ (1 John 1:9) 3. Consciously yield yourself to God. Give Him every area of your life. Give Him every talent and ability and give Him your very body. For the Bible says: ‘Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.’ (Romans 12:1) Spend a moment doing just this. Don’t rush it. 4. Begin to receive from God. The Bible tells us: ‘No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.’ (Psalm 84:11) 5. Thank Him for what He is doing in your heart and life right now. • If we will just do this, God will respond and come and touch our lives and reveal more of Himself to us. • You have nothing to lose. Step out and discover the joy of yielding to Him. • It is always worth it!
Posted on: Thu, 06 Mar 2014 11:44:05 +0000
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