The Sovereignty of God—A Look at Chapter 14 of Be Fruitful & Multiply

I Surrender All 

All to Jesus I surrender;

all to him I freely give;

I will ever love and trust him,

in his presence daily live.

Refrain:
I surrender all, I surrender all, 
all to thee, my blessed Savior, 
I surrender all. 

All to Jesus I surrender; 
humbly at his feet I bow, 
worldly pleasures all forsaken; 
take me, Jesus, take me now. 
(Refrain) 

All to Jesus I surrender; 
make me, Savior, wholly thine; 
fill me with thy love and power; 
truly know that thou art mine. 
(Refrain) 

All to Jesus I surrender; 
Lord, I give myself to thee; 
fill me with thy love and power; 
let thy blessing fall on me. 
(Refrain) 

All to Jesus I surrender; 
now I feel the sacred flame. 
O the joy of full salvation! 
Glory, glory, to his name! 
(Refrain) 

I wonder how many people actually stop and think about the words they are singing when they sing this song. The song doesn’t say “I surrender some” or “I surrender almost all”, but says, “I surrender all”.

Doesn’t surrendering all include surrendering your family size? Doesn’t it include your finances? What about your comfort levels? Most people who limit the size of their family do so because they don’t think they can afford to support more and/or because they would have to give up some of the amenities they have come to enjoy (driving new vehicles, cable television, fancy vacations, etc.).

Romans 12:1 says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” Campbell states of this verse, “Here we are exhorted to present every member of our body to the Lord. Would this not also include our reproductive organs?” I think it is common sense that our reproductive organs are a part of our bodies that we are to present to the Lord.

I know many families in which the husband underwent a vasectomy because they didn’t want to have any more children or they thought God had told them that they had enough children. I always wondered why they would undergo a surgery that was linked to prostate cancer, but now I am even more curious Campbell lists 25 more diseases linked to vasectomies (I don’t have time to research these right now, but if you and your husband are considering him having a vasectomy, you may want to do some research on possible side-effects). She suggests reading Is Vasectomy Worth the Risk by Dr. H. J. Roberts as well as A Physician’s Case Against Vasectomania and Is Vasectomy Safe? Medical Risks and Legal Implications also by Roberts.

The part that gets me the most on the topic of vasectomies is that is it not only accepted but also promoted by the church. Christian parents, elders, mentors, pastors all recommend limiting your family size. These are the same people that will sing I Surrender All the following church service and not bat an eye.

God is sovereign whether we want to admit it or not. He is in control. He is master of this universe and all in it. Why don’t we just let the One who knows all be in control of all?