Total surrender to Jesus
I remember the day when the Lord challenged me to serve Him. I was 15, on holiday on the South Coast of England, walking on the sea-front with some young Christians and I couldn’t enter into the fun that they were having because God was speaking to me – and the devil was speaking to me. The devil was saying, ‘Don’t listen, it’s OK, things are fine. You’re doing well – you got saved when you were 8, and you got baptised in water when you were 12, you started preaching at 13, that’s enough,’ and God was saying, ‘I want more.’ God was not calling me to be a preacher or an evangelist at that time, God was asking me to give my whole life to Him. Simply to give everything to Him.
I remember the battle that summer’s evening, as the sun began to go down. It became such a strong battle that I had to separate myself from the others. The devil was saying, ‘Don’t do it, you’re doing enough, don’t do any more,’ and God was saying, ‘I want you, David, I want everything you have and everything you are.’ At that moment God did not say, ‘You’re going to be a preacher, you’re going to be an evangelist, you’re going to be a missionary.’ It was to say, ‘David, I want all – or nothing,’ and I was just 15 years old!
Discerning the Call to Total Surrender
The most significant spiritual decisions often happen in the quiet moments of life – on a walk, during a holiday, or in the midst of "fun." For every believer, there comes a defining moment where the comfort of the "past" conflicts with the demand of the "future."
Key Principle: God's primary call is never to a title, but to a person. Before He gives you a mission, He asks for your life.