We will park here to explore more deeply the topic of surrendering. Christ wants every area of our lives surrendered to Him.  When we surrender our whole heart to Him, evidence will be reflected in our daily life.  That means that each area of our lives will reflect His desires.  That includes:  our vocation, family life, friendships, hobbies, past time experiences….every area!  Christ wants our undivided devotion.  I have heard Christians say, "Ok, I''m going to put on my business hat now."  In saying that one psychologically sets oneself up to operate from outside ones walk with the Lord.  Business is not a separate entity in our walk.  In Luke 19, the story of Jesus meeting Zaccheus, the wealthy Jewish tax collector.   In this story, we observe that Jesus'' life affects every area of our lives, including our vocation.  Zaccheus had climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus.  Jesus walked right up to the tree and told Zaccheus to come down.   Jesus invited himself to his home.  Everyone around them started to mutter because Jesus wanted to go to the house of a tax collector.  At that moment, Zaccheus was convicted and showed evidence of a changed heart for mishandling taxes and withholding from the poor.  He said to Jesus that this very day he would give half of all his riches to the poor and if he had cheated anyone, he would repay four times the amount.  That is a picture of our Lord''s mercy and true repentance and salvation for Zaccheus.  Christ wants every minute detail of our lives surrendered to Him. In Jonah 2:8, it says, "Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs."  An idol is anything that we perceive as giving a type of life.    Idolatry is at the very heart of us since the fall and it is disastrously insidious.  We started in the garden of Eden by sewing fig leaves to cover our shame.  Imagine that, we developed a coping mechanism to create our own image (idolatry) right off the bat.  Imagine if you will the experience after they ate the fruit and Satan left them to wallow in their reward for believing him. There was the immediate realization that they felt something new inside them and it felt awful.  They felt the shame and fear for the very first time and realized that they had been duped.  They had experienced the perfect fellowship with each other and with God; true delight, love, and purity with God and each other and traded it in for a bite of fruit…their 30 pieces of silver. What abundant grace are you and I forfeiting because we won’t unclench our fist from an idol?   We are so entrenched in our American lifestyle and unfortunately our culture is overrun with materialism and greed.  So many of us settle for a few earthly possessions when we can have even greater riches from Christ.  Are we selling ourselves short in our Christian walk?  Are we settling for less?  Do we believe that the treasures we have are worth more than what Christ will supply?  Instead of trusting in the greater riches we settle for what our eyes can see and our hands can grasp,  just like Adam and Eve.  Do we truly believe that the God of the universe, the creator of everything visible and invisible, His riches which are the treasures of heaven are not worth more than the measly possessions we hold on to with a death grip here on earth? There are obvious, not so obvious, and subtle forms of idolatry.  An obvious form of idolatry is friendship with the world; although, James calls it adultery.  James 4:4 says, “Friendship with the world is hatred toward God.”  The word “hatred” is actually translated “adultery.”  In this verse James is speaking to Christians who wanted to be successful and gain status in the world’s eyes.  James is stating here that God considers adulterers those who seek the values and goals of their culture.  What does that say about our American culture?  How much of the world has flooded into the church like a tidal wave?  Where are you allowing friendship with the world?  Going to church on Sundays and putting your tithe in the plate and then going home and living for the world the rest of the week (i.e. lying, cheating, foul language, etc.) then returning on Sunday and doing it all over again week after week.  Or a more subtle form of friendship with the world would be doing what you normally do during the week:  going to work, bringing home the paycheck and living the comfortable life in America.  In other words, does Christ have priority in your life?  What changes have been made?   I am saying that if we aren''t seeing changes in our life, such as in our motivations, in the way we interact with our family, friends, co-workers, and strangers; time with the Lord with Bible reading/study and prayer; there is a problem.   He died for us!  That means there should be a radical change in us.   We should consider taking a hard look at ourselves and ask God to examine our hearts.  What are the motivations of why we do things?  We should consider examining ourselves to see if we are testing God. A not so obvious form of idolatry might be that new car you just purchased.  It all depends on the motivation doesn''t it?  Are you thinking…I can’t wait to get behind the wheel of that car and see how she rides?  Or is it, I can''t wait for everyone to see me driving this car?  A motivation that has turned into idolatry (a type of life) because what you really desire is the fame and notoriety of driving the car. Beloved, we all should search our hearts.  Examine ourselves and ask if we are wholly surrendered.  It''s about surrender….complete and total surrender…no-holds barred surrender…radical surrender…every area of our life surrendered.  It is not just a one time surrender, it is a daily discipline.   As long as we are clothed in this flesh, we can never depend on ourselves.  We must constantly rely on the Lord.  It''s such a beautiful thing to daily depend on God and not ourselves.   How do we do that?  By daily humbling ourselves, dying to self, surrendering to Him, and then walking in obedience to Him.  How do we know we are walking in obedience to him?  By doing what His word says.  The only way to know what His word says is to read and study His word and pray to Him without ceasing.  Reading and studying His word is our compass and plumb line.  Praying to Him without ceasing doesn''t require, in every instance, bowing your head in formal prayer.  What I''m talking about is practicing the presence of God by talking to Him in your mind throughout the day.  Our prayer life is the thermometer of our relationship with God.  In other words, if your prayer life is strong and you are abiding in Christ, your walk will follow suite.  My husband and I started praying together almost every day three years ago.  It has changed our marriage.  It has changed our prayer life.  It has changed our walk with the Lord.  I would recommend it highly for any married couples.  There was a period of adjusting to it, but we soon settled into a comfortable exchange.  Then being connected to a body of believers supplies us with what we need for support, accountability,  and also growing in the faith.   What an incredible gift that Jesus gave to us by dying on the cross in order to bring us into relationship with the Father.  Oh, what true life and joy came to us when the curtain to the Holy of Holies was torn in two.  That curtain was His body, says the author of Hebrews.  What an indescribable gift! A subtle form of idolatry is "people pleasing."  It means you care more about what people think than what God thinks.  This is one that I think we all fall into from time to time.  Unfortunately, our tendency is to use people to affirm ourselves.  But, beware, Jesus said that if all men speak well of you, be on your guard.  As Christians the world is going to hate us.  God wants us to depend on Him…to please Him.  His approval and affirmation is truly all that we need.  He will take care of everything else if we look to Him as our source of life for everything.  That means he will take care of food, clothing, and shelter.  Isn’t that what it says in His word?  Matthew 6:33 says, "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”  Look to Him for His assurance that your life matters (worth); look to Him for His assurance that your life has meaning (purpose); and look to Him for His assurance that your life has focus (heart).   Your life and mine matter because God says we are of great worth.  In fact, we are of such great worth, that He sent His Son to die for you and me.  Your life and mine have meaning because Jesus gives us purpose in our lives and that purpose is to bring glory to Him.  And finally, your life and mine have focus because Christ is now the center of our lives.  Beloved, release your heart to Him so that He can work His beauty in your life. I don’t know about you, but I want to reexamine myself.  What idol has me gripped with a choke hold and I''m just allowing it?  That’s right!  There are idols that are obvious but we refuse to admit are idols.  What idol is lurking in the dark not seen by me because I''m too afraid to turn on the light?  There are subtle idols, some hidden behind my heart that will take prayer before God shines His light on them.  Oh, what grace could be mine if I would just be honest with myself and God and destroy the idol.  What glory it would bring to our King!  Oh, what peace it would bring to me!  What joy could be mine!  Beloved, let go of your idol and trust God to bring you greater riches.   A quote by Max Lucado that I believe sums up our life in Christ,  “God does not exist to make much of us; we exist to make much of Him.”  Beloved, the beauty of our life is found in Him and Him alone.