When my daughter was a little girl, she had a favorite stuffed animal. Wherever she went, it was always with her. When she was admitted to the hospital as an infant, we left it at home thinking that the hospital would not permit it there. Needless to say, another stuffed animal needed to be purchased. Her little stuffed bunny stayed with her in the hospital and everywhere that she went. She slept, played and ate with bunny. Needless to say, when it was time for bunny to move on she was not pleased and wanted to hold on to it regardless of its condition.
As adults we sometimes function in the same manner. We hold onto things thinking they will help us be what we want to be, but they really keep us from being what we could be. There are supposed securities in our lives that we cling to and we keep these to help us face our fears in life. These securities may be people, vocations, savings, alcohol and medication or walls of protection that we put up to keep people and things from hurting us.
People are not God and will always come up short when it comes to protecting you or meeting your needs. As we saw a few years with the financial structure of the United States, the bottom can fall out at any time and the effects can be devastating. Finances are never a security and are nothing more than a house of cards. When times of stress crowd people in, some believers turn to alcohol or drugs. By these tools, they adjust their moods and either remove the stress or gain the courage to move forward. In the past, great walls protected cities from attack. In like manner, people build walls in their lives to protect them from people and life events. Whenever they face trials or oppositions, they retreat behind their walls and protect themselves.
These and other qualities are the very things that God wants us to forsake so that we can be a disciple of Christ. Our success in Christ is not solely caused by what we do or the qualities that we may have, but is more so based on how little baggage we are carrying. What hinders believers the most is a double heart meaning a heart for Christ our fortress and one that also is holding on to other securities.
What is hindering you from being a disciple? What in your life are you trusting instead of Christ or in addition to Christ? In spite of it, the Lord has brought you this far. Now is the time, to let it go.
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