Sometimes parents tell their kids to leave certain toys or games behind. Sometimes teachers have taken things away from students, only to return them later. That doesn’t make parents or teachers mean or cruel. Sometimes those things can be a distraction in our lives.
Growing up, I remember experiencing an embarrassing moment! It must’ve been Halloween, and in the evening, my mom had me walk with her from our second-floor apartment to the 5th floor where our “new” baby sitter lived. She was an old lady. As we turned past the second floor on to the third floor, I realized that I had with me a yellow pacifier which I sometimes used. I was 4! I also had a very small box. Mom told me to forget about it; meaning, we weren’t going back down to put it away. So, I stuffed it in the small box.
The problem was, there were kids on the stairways and they wanted to see the candies I had received! I refused to open the box! Up at the “new,” but old, baby sitter’s house, her granddaughter also wanted to see my goodies. I had to muster up some courage and get mean refusing to show them…I learned I should have left it behind!
God calls us to leave things behind in the sense that He doesn’t want other things competing with His position in our lives. Possessions aren’t the only things that can interfere with God’s plans for us, but there are things that weigh us down, including past decisions, hurting relationships, hang-ups, etc. Yes, even as embarrassing as they may be, He prefers we “box” them, be strong, and refuse to give in to outside temptations demanding we reveal them to the world. You may or may not have candies in your box, but God’s sweetness is enough to saturate our lives. In this walk, you may have to climb several floors to reach your goal, it’s the same with God; He wants to take us heaven bound. Make that your goal.
“Brothers and sisters, I know I still have a long way to go. But there is one thing I do: I forget what is in the past and try as hard as I can to reach the goal before me” (Philippians 3:13 ERV).
LETITGO!
Sam