40 Days to Live - Day 12

Luke 18:18-30 - Give It All Away

LIVE IT: Let go of whatever is impossible for you to give up today.

I recently let go of a possession that I would have thought impossible to give up - my vanity dressing table. But God enabled me to give it to someone who needed it and be joyful in doing so. However, it's much harder to let go of strong opinions and certain attitudes. It's hard to let go of a desire for praise. May the Lord help me to remember that He is my inheritance and I need nothing else.

Jimmy Draper shared a good sermon illustration when he was my pastor. He told us of a type of monkey that can be trapped by placing food it likes in a container with a hole that will allow ithe monkey to get its empty hand in but not be able to pull out his fist once it is full. The monkey WILL NOT let go of his prize and is, therefore, trapped. Today's lesson reminded me of that sermon and the poem I wrote that day. I needed to be reminded not to hold on tight but to give God everything!

Are we like the little monkey
who has his hand so full
that he won’t let go to free himself,
and we think him such a fool?

But in ways aren’t we just like him?

For we hold within our grasp
things that keep us from the Lord,
things that will not last.

It may not be a thing we hold.
It may be an attitude,
something that we should confess
so that we may be renewed.

And yet we hold on tightly
to these items we hold dear,
and we remain trapped in our sin,
in bitterness and fear.

If, in wisdom, we’d let go,
our freedom we would find.
For in giving everything to God,
His peace will fill our minds.

May 11, 1986
Karen Sue Hale