My cell phone came alive with a happy little jingle.  My sister was calling!  I answered the phone.  She talked about her daughters upcoming graduation from high school as she pulled up to the post office to run in and check her mail box.  She slammed the car door shut and walked into the post office only to discover she didn’t have her keys.  Frustrated, she walked back out to her car and confirmed what she already knew; she had locked her keys into the car.  I felt bad, since she had probably forgotten her keys because she had been distracted by talking on the phone to me.  Fortunately she lives about two blocks from the post office, so she walked home to get her spare set of keys.  When she arrived home the keys were not hanging in their usual place.  She realized she had put them in her jacket pocket which was locked in the car.  Being a single mom she had a hard time parting with the money required to call a lock smith to open her car door.

Human nature tends to be self-reliant.  We don’t  like to admit we need help with something.  We don’t like trading our pride for humility.  My sister did not call the lock smith immediately when she discovered her keys were locked in the car, she pursued her other option first and tried to save herself the pain of paying the lock smith to correct her mistake.

Surrender is the key to the kingdom of heaven.  Surrender of self-will to the will of our Father in heaven.  Surrender involves cutting off the supply of pride to our self-will and becoming connected to the will of the Father.   What is needed to live such a life?  The first thing is an entire surrender of ones life to God’s kingdom and glory.  “Yielding ourselves to live for God and His honor enlarges the heart and teaches us to regard everything in the light of God and His will.  We need to instinctively recognize in everything around us the need for God’s help and blessing and the opportunity for His being glorified.” (1)  We need to surrender our hearts to God’s love for us.   Give the key to our heart to God so He can come in and fill our hearts with love.  Fill it to overflowing with His love for us, our love for Him and everyone else He has placed in our path who needs us to share love with them.  God only wants what is best for us, when we give up our will and live in His will, His river of joy and happiness will flow through us.  The only way to live like Christ is to love like He does.

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit,  because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.  Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.  Romans 14:17-19

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love” 1 John 4:7-81. “With Christ in the School of Prayer” by Andrew Murray pg 233