All that I Am

All that I am

OK – the election is over, the politicking should be finished. Its time to settle down once again to look at the ‘important things of life’. What could possibly be more important than our leaders or our country or even our families? Well, there was one thing Jesus commanded us to do and that was detailed in the Great Commission. If you don’t fancy that too much, then Paul and other letter writers emphasised our responsibilities in becoming more like Jesus each day.

There is a quite well known song that goes something like, “All that I am, All that I have, All that I’m going to be . . . “ It is “All the way, my Saviour needs me” by Fanny Crosby. The version I have is sung by Chris Bowater. His great friend is RT Kendall who once famously said, “I am not what I should be, I am not what I want to be, but thank God, I am not what I used to be.” Both these men of God have taken to heart Fanny Crosby’s wonderful words – “All that I am.” And they have given that to Jesus.

Jesus asks all that we have – our families, our love, our finances, our entire lives in every minute detail. In return for this, apparently huge investment, what do we get? What’s in it for us? Immediately, we get Jesus love in return. It has always been there for us anyway, but somehow God seems to make it more tangible and real once we surrender all to Jesus. Next we receive His peace, that “peace that passes all understanding” as Paul puts it. Then we find that God is intimately involved in every aspect of our daily lives – facilitating things for us. That’s not to say that everything goes smoothly – far from it in fact. But the Lord gives us that indescribable thing called “grace” which enables us to cope with everything with that ‘peace which passes all understanding’ firmly placed in our hearts and minds because we know that Jesus cares for us and is ultimately looking out for us.

Last but not least, on this list anyway, we have the assurance and sure knowledge of eternity spent in His company. We call it eternal life. It’s what Jesus died to give us. It is why He deserves to receive “all that I am” from me – and from you too.