If I were to summarize my life in a handful of words, “surrender” is near the top of the list. It’s why I love Romans 12:1. It says: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.” When I was eighteen, I’d read about a missionary who’d contracted leprosy. I was haunted by the story. One day, I felt the Lord asking: Luis, are you willing to give your life for the sake of others? Are you willing to even get leprosy for Me?

Finally, peace replaced my tension, and I knew the honest answer. "Yes, Lord, I’ll do whatever You ask. Even if it means risking leprosy for the sake of the Good News, I’ll do it." It was a moment of surrender. A moment of becoming a “living sacrifice.”

The concept of giving all for the Lord was not abstract to me. Before my father’s death, he showed me the power that comes when a person says, “Everything I have is for the Lord.” Thinking of my father forces me to consider what areas of my life I am holding back from the Lord. Perhaps you should consider it too. There is no better time to surrender than right now, and so reach your world.

This is Luis Palau.