| Matthew 16:25 – “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” |
My son and I share a 20 pound dumb bell for doing curls as part of our exercise. I bought him a 35 pounder but neither of us have worked up to it yet. He told me that sometimes his hand cramps up while grasping the handle. I told him that my hand cramps sometimes as well. When it does, I have to pry my thumb away from my index finger with the other hand.
I was thinking about how we use our hands. Mostly we grab things. But as I have gotten older, I have found myself doing the opposite. After we had been married a few years, I felt I was holding on too tightly to my wife. I decided to try just letting go. I did, and discovered it brought us closer together. We birthed 3 sons, and I began to slowly let them go. But only after lots of hugs and hand holding and them sitting in my lap.
I remember our oldest getting in his car and heading off to his apartment for the summer. I felt my grip loosening on him. I saw myself let go. He is married now with two children of his own. Our middle son is planning a wedding. My wife and I are working on divesting ourselves of our stuff, our accumulations that have come over a lifetime. Letting go. Letting go of control. I imagine myself at heaven’s gates. “What do you have to offer?” I look at my hands. Empty. Me: “Nothing except my trust in Jesus.”
Father in heaven, thank You for securing our souls, in Jesus’ name, Amen!
- Jeff Beall
