Loosen Your Grip - Part 2

 

I am not trying to be sacrilegious in any way, but I believe that God has a sense of humor. Just look at the armadillo and the porcupine! Have you ever tried to get something out of a baby’s hand when they have grabbed hold of it? Quite the challenge, eh?  Developmental specialists say that a baby learns the skill of grabbing on to something a few months before they learn the skill of being able to let go. As a doctor who has struggled to get his glasses back from a little one more than a few times, I find that assessment a little humorous!

 

In my last post, I talked about the need to loosen our grip and let God help us through whatever problems we face. We’ll revisit that topic today from a little different perspective.  In our materialistic society, it’s easy to get caught up in the pursuit of worldly things and let our spiritual activities slide a little. If you grab onto the world, you have to let go of God.  Jesus said, “No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money” (Lk 16:13).

 

When you have the chance, take time out to do a little self-assessment. What direction does your mind go when you’re taking it easy or when you lay your head on the pillow at night? What do you worry about? How do you spend your time and your money?

 

This is not to say that we can’t have or do nice things. It’s all a matter of priority. God needs to have our first priority and we need to remember that all we have is a gift from Him and all that we do should be uplifting to the Spirit within us.

 

“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world – the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does – comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever” (1 Jn 2:15-17).