Surrender Your Keys

Romans 12:1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Surrender is not a very popular word in our culture today. It means to give up possession or control and we do not like to feel out of control. Each generation seems to be more strong willed, independent, and even more belligerent toward any suggestion that they voluntarily submit to the will of another. No one wants to surrender their finances. “I have to build a retirement plan.” No one would surrender their dreams. “I’ve worked too hard to make it this far.” If you advise someone to surrender to their spouse, they will say, “I have to protect myself. You never know if I will end up alone.” And suggest they surrender their rights, they will recoil and say, “No way. I will sue to protect my rights.” But surrendering to God is the key to unlocking the treasures He wants us to have. He patiently waits for us to quit resisting and yield to His plan for us. When we surrender our bodies as a living sacrifice, we give up our fleshly desires, our pride, our greed, and even our thoughts and we bring them in line with the way He wants us to think, to act, and to respond. We read and study His Word so that we can know how He wants us to live and to love others, even our enemies. We treat our bodies as His temple so we take care of it. But its not easy. It takes a daily, conscious act of our will to decide, “Lord, you can have my life and I will do what you want.” That level of submission requires that I completely trust in Him with all my heart. So why should we make that kind of commitment? Because He is fully trustworthy, that He can take better care of my life than I can. Nothing is out of control….His control. Everything I need, He already knows in detail and He is able to supply, to guide, to sustain, to fix, to change and to correct in His time and for my best. He earned that trust when He went to the cross and gave up His rights and died for you and for me, sacrificing His life so that we could have eternal life. Start your day today in complete surrender to Him. Don’t just invite Him to ride shotgun or to be your copilot. Give Him the keys, get in the back seat, and say, “You drive Lord, anywhere you want us to go.”