Give It Up

Message of Encouragement Monday (MOEM #022)

I enjoy sports and I’m a numbers guy. For years, I’ve had this little hobby where I analyze the games each day and see if I think there would be value in betting on one of the games. I usually don’t make an actual bet; the fun for me is more in the analysis of the games and the numbers; and tracking my progress to see if I would win each day. I will admit, living in Las Vegas, I have occasionally gone over to the casino and made a small wager on a game just for fun.

But, lately, I’ve felt the Holy Spirit nudging me about this hobby of mine; whispering to me, “I’d like you to do something else with your time. Just move on from it. Don’t even give it a second thought.” And God has kind of had to “wrestle” it out of my grip. I had a firm grip on this hobby of mine and I didn’t want to let it go. I was essentially telling God, “These are my cigarettes. Keep your hands off my cigarettes!”

But, what God has helped me to see is that I’m not giving up anything that is super important in an eternal sense. This thing that I’m giving up is a pretty small and insignificant thing, but it feels bigger than it is because I controlled that space. You see how the human psyche works? That was a little corner of my life that I had tried to separate from God. I give you my life, Lord, but not this little space. This space is mine; I reserve it for me. This is the place I can retreat to and go into my own little world. And we will go to great lengths to protect these secret spaces that we think we’ve created for ourselves.

Through this process, the Holy Spirit has reminded me of this verse. Luke 9:23-24 records Jesus saying the following to his disciples: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.”

After years of walking with God, it’s not so much that I think my salvation is at stake over this issue. But, God is working with me on a heart condition. Who is really in control here? Me or God? Who has dominion over this little corner of my life? Who is really the King and who is the servant? Am I willing to part with this thing? And I think that’s a good measuring stick; if there is something we are not willing to let go of, that’s an indication that we’ve created an idol out of it and we need some healing in that area.

When God asks us to relinquish something that we love, it is for our spiritual good. When we hold onto idols, we may “gain” in the material world, but we are “losing” in the spiritual sense. We are moving away from God. When we let go, we feel we are losing, but that is where we are gaining freedom and moving closer to God. What God asks us to give up may be fun, but it eats up our time; it keeps us focused on the wrong things and moving in the wrong direction. We have to be willing to wipe the whiteboard clean, and allow God to write His story on it.

So, I encourage you today. Whatever “it” is that God may be nudging you about…give it up; and see what God’s gonna do!

Don’t forget God today!

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