Upon hearing that the American evangelist D.L. Moody had been invited to preach in a city wide campaign a prominent London minister remarked to another minister, “Why Moody, what is so special about him? He doesn’t have a monopoly on God!”. The wise friend replied, “You are correct, Mr. Moody does not have a monopoly on God. The reason he has been invited is that God has a monopoly on him”.
Wow! What a powerful statement. And, by all accounts, God did have a monopoly on Dwight L. Moody. He and hundreds of common men have been mightily used by God. I can think of a dozen men who preached the gospel to tens of thousands with great effectiveness, many of whom had little or no formal training. The Apostle Peter comes to mind.
This story begs a question. Does God have a monopoly on me? Does he have a monopoly on you? The man God uses is not the one with the greatest education, armed with a degree from the best seminary, but the one who has kept nothing of himself away from God’s control.
Our aim is to be more dedicated to Christ. The problem is what we dedicate is “self” and the abilities we possess. What Christ wants is surrender. He doesn’t need our ability, our energy, or even our strengths. When we give up God shows up! Only what is done for His glory in His power really matters.
“And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it”. (Matthew 10:38-40)
These words of Jesus find me, and I fear many of us, off target. It goes against all I am to come to Christ with nothing to offer and allow Him to use me as He will. Will I lose my life? Will you?
Royce
Grace Digest 
Awesome! Thanks for sharing.
What a great quote about Moody. I’ll have to remember that. Interestingly enough, someone on my blog was just commenting about dying to self, questioning the validity of that phrase. I think it’s a very biblical concept, as the quote from Matthew shows.
Grace and peace,
Tim Archer
For the man or woman who is willing to surrender their limited knowledge, their shortsighted ambitions, their inadequate abilities, their unrealistic self-exaltation, and their over confident self assured independence, God is able, ready, and earnestly desirous to give such a one all the treasures of heaven through the indwelling Spirit of the abiding Christ, and that man or woman’s life will become a life without limits, inadequacies, or unrealized possibilities.
Though we may lose our own life in surrender, what a life we gain! The Creator of the universe gives His own life in exchange for ours, His righteousness for our sinfulness, His immortality for our mortality, His loving character for our selfish shortsighted faithless corrupt carnal natures. Sounds like a great deal to me.