When we are at the end of our rope, sometimes we hear the old saw: “Tie a knot at the end of the rope and hold on!” while at the same time Wisdom hollers: “Let go of the rope, Dummy!”
About 50 years ago, Fashion’s Shadow pranced like a parade horse, with me walking at the end of his halter rope. Suddenly he stiffened his neck and jerked me off my feet.
Shadow was a beautiful Morgan horse, jet black, with a long wild mane, and today his mind was made up. He would gallop to the barn–and no 80-pound 12-year-old could stop him.
I held onto the rope, determined to drag along until Shadow tired of hauling me. Dirt filled my britches. I spit grunge, and I felt the pasture rash marking my belly.
Then I did the unthinkable. I let go.
Shadow–tail flagging high and snorting in triumph–never looked back.
My pride stung worse than my pasture rash.
There are times when we hold on longer than is wise and receive wounds more painful than a little pasture rash. Solomon admonishes that life offers us “a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away. (Eccl. 3:6 NIV)
Are your possessions worth holding onto, at all costs? That is the treasure you must give to God.
Jesus warned: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matt. 6:19-21)
What do you hold most dear? That is what you must pry out of your “fingers.” What entertainment, or dream, or ambition, or idea causes you to grit your teeth when you consider giving it up? That is what God asks you to hand over.
God will often accept your willingness to give him your treasure as a sacrifice, and let you keep it! But be willing to give all to him. If what you possess is God’s blessing, it’s really not yours anyway.
Missionary Jim Elliot said: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.”
Cut it loose–and know true freedom. It’s time to let it ALL go…
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. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:1-2)
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