If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. Matthew 16:25

Have you ever wondered what it really means to “give your life to God?” Maybe it looks something like the lives of Mother Teresa or Billy Graham?

Consider Everett Howard’s story:  After finishing school and struggling with his life goals, Everett decided he would give his life to God.  He took a piece of paper and listed all the impressive things he intended to do for God, including his willingness to be a missionary, with some second options like giving to church and reading his Bible every day. Signing his name to the page, he waited but nothing happened.  He was disappointed.

But as Everett prayed, he said he “felt the voice of God speaking in his heart.  It said, ‘You’re going about it wrong.  Just tear up the paper you’ve written. Take a blank piece of paper, sign your name on the bottom of it, and let Me fill it in.'”  And for the next 36 years, God filled in that page of Everett Howard’s life.[1]

Giving God the right to fill in the blank page of your life, day in and day out, is what the Bible calls a living sacrifice” (Romans 12:1).  It’s simple but not easy:  The Bible book of Romans puts it like this: “Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking around life—and place it before God as an offering” (Romans 12:1 The Message). Are you willing to let God write your story?

 

Resource reading: Romans 12:1-2

[1] Dobson, J. (n.d.). Reverend Everett Howard’s Personal Story. THE DOBSON LIBRARY. Retrieved March 14, 2022, from https://dobsonlibrary.com/resource/article/8975d171-3a24-43e0-a63e-a5a74051698e