We hold onto things.

That’s just what we do.

As if we fear drowning in the high surf of modern times,

we grab whatever floats past on the

next wave, the closest current,

and hold on as if that is the one thing that can save us.

Even if a rescue boat rows near

And offers us safety if

we will only pry loose our grip from the flotsam

that we believe is keeping us afloat,

we resist,

we fight,

we risk refusing true rescue

all for the item in our grasp.

When my daughter was a toddler, she dragged her cotton blankie everywhere.

It was that particular compilation of threads that

held her together when

the waves of toddlerhood loomed high.

One Sunday, we were in the “quiet room” in the back of our sanctuary

where families allowed toddlers to  wander a bit

as they listened to the sermon.

Hannah was several steps from me when I noticed her blankie wrapped around her legs

She was close to toppling into the glass window separating us from the rest of the worshipers.

I tried to free her from her entanglement

but she resisted,

loudly,

vehemently gripping her blankie

as if she feared I’d chosen THAT moment

to rid her of all her security

and might just destroy the blankie without warning.

The more she fought me, the tighter the blanket wound around her

and her frustration reached a pinnacle of volume

that defied even the insulating glass of the quiet room.

I had to swoop her off her feet

and take the blankie by force

to save her from herself

and her chosen source of peace.

Hannah’s blankie illustrates for me

that we all have an innate, internal understanding

that we’re at risk and that we need to be saved.

When, however, we panic like drowning men,

And grab hold of the first item or person or idea or philosophy that comes along

thinking that will be our salvation;

we risk sealing our fate beneath life’s rough waters

rather than freeing ourselves from them.

And when Jesus or someone representing Him

rows up alongside us and tries to get us to release our grip

from that which can’t possibly save us

we resist

to our own harm.

Jesus told the Jews that freedom was found in Him.

“So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8: 31-32

And it is.

It comes with words like forgiveness, grace, release, redemption, and love.

But it also comes with instructions to

let go of all else,

and on the side of the lifeboat, are also words like obedience,

submission,

sacrifice,

And surrender.

Jesus asks us to let go of other ideas, philosophies, habits, relationships, and idols

we think will keep us afloat

so we can appropriate the salvation that is only found in a life with Him.

Sometimes, even once we’re in the boat,

we lean over the side and try to drag other items in

until He yanks them from our hands

and tosses them overboard where they belong.

We all hold onto things.

Much of this life with Jesus is about letting everything else go.

Scary at the moment of release

but freeing once we experience the relief

of leaving our entanglement

and walking freely with the God of the Universe.

How about you? What do you have in your grip? What could you gain by letting go?