Absolute Surrender by Andrew Murray

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is actually a collection of sermons by Andrew Murray, the first of which is entitled “Absolute Surrender.” Initially I thought them to be unrelated to one another. However, the last one, “Ye Are the Branches,” circles back to the theme of absolute surrender, causing me to wonder whether or not these messages were originally preached in series.

This was my second time reading the book. This past autumn my church chose Absolute Surrender for one of three book/Bible studies. I ended up not participating in that one because it conflicted with another study I was equally interested in. Even so, I decided to reread this book on my own. Life got in the way, so I am just now finishing it.

The message hit me more powerfully this time through, driving home what it means to offer God my absolute surrender—yielding my will entirely to His. Too often, Murray says, we plan our lives and our days, and then we ask God to bless us and keep us from sinning “too much.” We neither consider the fact that His plans are higher than ours, nor that it is possible to live a sanctified life day in and day out. Instead, we’re on-again-off-again when it comes to victorious Christian living. If our spirituality were to be compared to a string of Christmas lights, we would be the flashing kind, when what God wants are steady lights.

I sense a third read coming, and this time I intend to journal my thoughts as I read. I may even invite you to join me on the journey here on the blog. Who knows?

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Photo taken in Milton, Florida, 2018