Letting Go

I'm sure you've heard the statement, "Let go, and let G-d."

Boy, but isn't letting go hard?! Especially if you've got a bit of "controller" in you! But the ability to "let go" is part of a giving heart----did you ever think of it that way?

In the first place, we are to let go of our very selves to G-d. When we come to Him with a humble heart entreating Him for salvation, we are to give him our hearts, our very lives---for He has bought us with a price. When we belong to G-d, our lives are not our own anymore.

Jesus said in Matthew 16:24, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me."

When we hold onto all we have for dear life, we are the loser. We have to let go in order to gain! Jesus tried to teach His disciples this principle. In verse 25 of Matthew 16, He went on to say, "For whosoever shall save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake, shall find it."

You know that when we truly love someone we must be willing to let them go. Holding onto them for dear life will only strangle the life out of the relationship. Letting go is liberating. Letting go allows for the other to be able to GIVE of themselves, freely, so in turn, we may receive. And it goes both ways!

The things we treasure the most---our loved ones, earthly possessions, our careers, our positions and entitlements---we must give them to the L-rd---let go of the cords we hold onto so tightly---that we may be able to receive what the L-rd has for us. If we are so filled up with our own selfish desires and misplaced values and priorities, if our love is totally given to other things......where is there any room left for the L-rd to fill us with His blessings, which really are of value?

Paul, by example as well as by his preaching, tried to impart this truth to the early believers, and it is preserved in Scripture for us today: "Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my L-rd: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,"

With the economy, indeed the world economy, looking more bleak every day, 21st Century believers probably should re-evaluate our lives. We mortals get so earth-bound that many times we fail to remember that this world is not our permanent home. We're just "visiting". Rather than be fearful and give in to despair, we must be willing to let go, and with the joy of the L-rd as our strength, live each day, trusting the L-rd to complete His perfect plan for our lives.

Psalm 37:4---"Delight thyself also in the L-rd; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart."