To Surrender or not to Surrender, that is the question

Have you ever tried to eat the shell of an egg?   I doubt seriously any of us would ever eat the shell intentionally, but maybe you have eaten the shell of a hard-boiled egg by accident?   If so, how did it taste?  I assume you found no taste, but at any rate you tried to spit it out, and get it all out as quickly as possible.  It is doubtful it would hurt you very much, unless you take in large amounts.  But that is not really the question.

I love the taste of hard boiled eggs, when placed in salads, or mixed with other foods   I even enjoy them alone, maybe with a little salt and pepper.  But there is one thing that is really disgusting to me, and that is to get even just the smallest sliver of the shell in my mouth.   I quickly try to get every single bit of it out of my mouth as quickly as possible.

  I believe that is the same sensation that Christ has in dealing with me as an individual occasionally. He sees me with this hard outer shell that wants nothing to penetrate it.  He knows that inside is what He made us to be. We are pure gold wrapped inside of the white and cleanliness of the Holy Spirit.  But then on the outside is that shell that He has to contend with.  That is our individuality.  But that individuality must be yielded to Him.  Too often, I do not want to permit that outer shell of self to be broken so that He can enter and mellow me on the inside with His spirit.  That is a choice that we have to make.  He wants us to break that outer layer of self, so He can get on the inside.  That individuality must be yielded to God, so that our deep inner spirit, can fellowship with Him.

God wants to bring us into union with Himself, but unless we are willing to give up that right to self He cannot.  How often must He want to just spew us out of his mouth, because bits of that hard shell gets mixed in with the spirit inside of us.  Therefore, we must each answer that question, to surrender or not surrender that hard shell of self, so that He can bring us into union with Himself.  It is our choice.

12/11/10 DC