I have a very simple devotion this morning, prompted by a picture I saw on FaceBook yesterday. Here it is:
How simple, yet how profound. How long do we hold on to things, when God has something so much better for us?
I heard someone once say, that when God gives a command, there are two reasons for it:
1. He is trying to protect us from something that will harm us, and
2. He has something so much better for us.
This image encapsulates that second sense so well. We may think that giving up our habits, possessions, desires will cause a deep, dark sense of loss, but the reality is, that God’s gifts are so far superior that what we let go fades into insignificance.
From the book of James, chapter 1:
17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
God’s gifts are good. What he has for us is good.
So today, ask yourself these questions:
Is there a habit I’m holding onto, that is holding me back from all that God has for me?
Is there a possession I own that is too important to me, and taking the place of God in my life?
Is there a desire I have, that is actually but a poor shadow of what God wants for me?
And if so, surrender. Give it up. What God has for you is so much better.
As Jim Elliot said:
“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”
Amen and amen.