By: Pastor Jarren Rogers

My wife is a kindergarten teacher, which is great. Most husbands ask their wives about their day whenever they get home, but most husbands don’t hear the entertaining stories I have the pleasure of hearing. 

She shared this one with me the other day:

In her classroom, she has what’s called a “clip chart.” Like a stoplight, the top of the chart is green, the middle yellow, and the bottom red. The purpose of this chart is so that both the teacher and the parents can monitor their child’s behavior. If they are having a good day, they clip up. If they are having a bad day, they clip down.

One instance in particular, when a student was getting rowdy, Annie asked him to clip down. The student wasn’t too happy with this, but he approached the clip chart and moved his clip from the green area to the yellow.

Well, kind of. 

It wasn’t until later on Annie noticed the student’s clip was positioned squarely on the line between green and yellow. When he moved it, he placed it so close to the edge that you couldn’t even tell he’d made it to the yellow zone.

Smart kid. I think he’s onto something.

When God calls us into a relationship with Him, He calls us to go all in. He wants every bit of us. If we were moving our clip from the zone of ME (my wants, my desires, my decisions) to the zone of God (His plan, His Strength, His desire for us), God wants us to move our clip completly onto His side. He wants it all, completely forsaking and surrendering ourselves to receive the vast and magnificent plan that He has in store for us. 

But we rarely move our clip that far. We’re afraid to give up that much of ourselves, so we, like that student, put our clip on the very edge. Yeah I want God’s plan for my life. I want the gifts He has to offer, but I’m not quite ready for complete surrender. So I’ll just ride the edge for a while. And if you’re on the outside looking in, it appears as if I’m all in for Jesus. But in reality, I’m holding onto some things with a tight fist.

Ask yourself: What’s keeping me from going all the way? Why aren’t I diving into the beauty and the wonder of our God? What are the things I’m not ready to give up?

Riding the line can be exhausting. Trying to wholly please yourself and God is impossible. Serving Him requires sacrifice and surrender. The good news is that when we submit entirely to Christ, He can transform our hearts and minds, taking us to places that we’d never dreamed–places that fill us with passion, drive us with divine energy, and resound with hope.

Who wouldn’t want that? It’s time to go all in.