What Lent Taught Me About Surrender

3-25-26

Jes Willis

As Lent comes to a close, my heart feels so full. What God showed me during this season was not just about giving up random things. It was about giving up me.

At the beginning of this year, I found myself thinking about what I needed to do, what I needed to give, and what I could get out of things. But as I prayed and examined my heart, it became so clear that the thing I really needed to give up was my selfishness. God does not call us to a life centered on ourselves. He calls us to a life centered on Him.

As I started reviewing my motives, not just for Lent but for everyday life, I began to see how much of my life had become distracted. I looked at how I interacted with people, how I wrote, how I spent my time, and how easily I let other things take my attention. I realized I had given all my time away and had not truly given time to God.

So I began to remove things.

I removed things that had become idols in my life. I removed things I thought were important but really were not. I paid things off. I gave things away. I canceled subscriptions. I deleted apps. I removed extra access points on my phone. I deleted accounts. I froze social media. I let go of things that had come to hold more value in my eyes than spending time with God.

I had a choice to make: do I choose me, or do I choose God?

I chose God.

I let go of many things He told me to release. I even pulled back from relationships, friendships, work connections, discipleship, mentorship, and other commitments that were taking all of my attention. Many of those things were not bad. In fact, some were good and could even help build the Kingdom. But they were still taking too much of my time and focus away from Him.

And isn’t that part of what surrender is? Laying down anything that competes with God for first place in our hearts?

Last night at church, we had a class on the gospel and communion, and it opened my eyes even more. It made me realize how many things I have taken for granted. It showed me how easily I can make life, faith, and even good intentions about myself instead of about the Lord and His sacrifice.

A lot of times, our thought process may seem good, and even our intentions may seem right, but we still have to ask: have I made this more about the thing than about what God actually called me to do?

That is what I want to encourage others with: make it about what God has called you to do. Not about what you can get out of it. Not about how it makes you look. Not even about how it changes other people first. Let it change you.

One of the most powerful illustrations shared in class was about the covenant God made with Abraham. The animals were split, and normally both parties would walk between the pieces. But God put Abraham to sleep, and God alone passed through, shown by the smoking fire pot and flaming torch. God established the covenant Himself. God took the responsibility. God took the weight of it.

That picture points us to Jesus.

Just as God took the burden of the covenant, Jesus took the burden of our sin. He was not a victim. He willingly gave Himself. He stepped down from heaven, was born in humility, lived among us, taught the Kingdom of God, and showed us the way back to the Father.

The biggest thing I saw in all of this is that Jesus gave Himself freely.

I love the picture of the Passover table, when Jesus sat with His disciples before going to the cross and said, “This is my body, broken for you.” Just as those animals were part of the covenant with Abraham, Jesus gave His own body as the final sacrifice so that through Him we could be brought back to the Father.

All we have to do is believe and say yes.

We do not have to perform our way back to God. We do not have to carry every burden, prove ourselves, or make ourselves worthy. It is not about us. It is about what He already did. Our part is to repent, seek Him, believe that He is who He says He is, and trust that He will do what He says He will do.

As Holy Week approaches, I do not want to live surrendered only for a season. I do not want to live deeply moved only during Lent or only during Holy Week. I want to live this way every day, in every moment, in every interaction.

The call is simple: say yes to Jesus and live a life surrendered to Him.

He gave everything so that we could live eternally with Him and with the Father.

There is a saying that some gave all so others could live. Jesus truly gave all.

He took on the sin of all creation. He carried the past, the present, and the future. He carried every sin, every wound, every hurt, every pain, every trauma, every failure, every heavy thought. He took it all.

Let that settle in for a moment.

Everything that feels too big for us, everything that feels too small to mention, every situation that seems impossible, every place where we feel stuck, Jesus has already made a way. He holds it all in His hands. Our response is simply to say yes.

This new covenant is unbreakable.

Just as God’s covenant with Abraham could not be undone, the covenant we now have through Jesus is secure. God remained faithful then, and He remains faithful now. Israel failed again and again, yet God still brought them back. And where sin required death, Jesus took that punishment on the cross for us.

He became our substitute.

He was the ultimate sacrifice: pure, holy, righteous, and spotless in every way that we never could be. He became sin, though He knew no sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. As 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, this is the heart of the gospel.

Jesus made the way back to the Father.

He fulfilled what had been spoken. He took our transgressions. He was wounded and bruised for our iniquities. He shed His blood. He died. And then He rose again.

The resurrection is central to our faith.

He was the promised Messiah. He is the promised Messiah. He came, He died, He rose again, and He will return for His bride.

So the question is:

Are you ready?