“Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine or plague. But whoever goes out and surrenders to the Babylonians who are besieging you will live; they will escape with their lives.”
After it is all said and done, the hero always survives. Many movies have the hero in impossible situations, like in Mission Impossible, and in the end, he seems to overcome the greatest challenges and walk away unmarked.
When we take over our lives, we can put ourselves in some really crazy situations. Mountains of debt, bad relationships, poor habits, and poor choices seem to plague us. All of this is going on, and just like the Israelites, we refuse to hear the Lord and His gentle, still, small voice through the Holy Spirit. I dare say that we even make active choices to turn against God and participate in life away from the Lord.
Jeremiah was the recipient of this. When he was ordered by the Lord to tell Judah of the coming Babylonians, no one listened, and they even plotted to kill him or throw him in jail. Once the corrupt priesthood knew of the coming Babylonians, they asked Jeremiah to call on the Lord so He could save Israel from the coming peril. It was too late; the Lord was going to send His people into exile, and no one was going to stop it.
Maybe you have ignored the Lord in some area of your life? Sure, it may not be worshiping other gods, but you know you have been moving farther away from Him every day. You may have become deaf to the Lord’s nudging, no longer actively listening or wanting to do the Lord’s will. The erection of walls and stubborn pride seems to be around your heart, almost protecting you from something you believe the Lord has forgotten.
Can I tell you that sometimes you must surrender to the forces of change that the Lord sends you? Break off the friendship with that toxic person, actively change poor habits, stop spending your way into debt—to name a few. Surrender to the Lord’s moving. Just like when the Lord told the Israelites to surrender to the Babylonians and leave with their lives, the Lord is telling you to surrender to Him, breaking you away from things in your life that are not healthy and far from God. It may not feel good, but the Lord can repair your heart and life if you only give Him control.
In Indiana Jones, Dr. Jones is searching for the Holy Grail along with some bad dudes. The bad guys get to the place where the Holy Grail is, and a knight is guarding the choice of cups—one of them is the real Holy Grail. The bad guy chooses the fancy cup because he thinks Christ is lofty and fancy. He drinks from the cup and dies. The knight simply says in the company of Dr. Jones and others, “He has chosen unwisely.” You don’t want to choose unwisely. Christ is the only choice, and you must surrender to Him, and as a result, you get life.
Prayer: Father, we oftentimes refuse to surrender the things in our lives that are driving us farther away from You. I pray that today starts the beginning of total and complete surrender. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Let It Go 
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