Letting Go

Letting Go

Since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.

Hebrews 12:1

Maybe you’ve heard of the strategy. It’s clever. And it always works. In parts of India and Africa that are overrun with monkeys, officials control the monkey population by employing the help of professional monkey catchers. But the best part is that the catchers actually allow the monkeys to catch themselves.

Here’s how it’s done. The catcher hollows out a gourd no bigger than a basketball and cuts an opening in the gourd about the size of a silver dollar. He then carries the gourd to an area frequented by monkeys. He holds up the gourd above his head for all the monkeys to see before placing it on the ground in an open area near a tree. He then tethers the gourd, tying it so that its movement is restricted and so it can’t be carried off.

The monkey catcher then walks over to a banana tree and selects a banana in plain view of the monkeys. He holds it high above his head for all the monkeys to see. He walks back and places it inside the gourd. Next, he walks back several paces out of view from the monkeys.

What happens next is rather startling. One of the curious monkeys will come over to the gourd, examine it, give it a push, and check out the banana within. Now, there are bananas all around, all easily obtainable. But this curious monkey wants that banana. He easily puts his hand into the small opening of the gourd, and he can easily take it back out—as long as he is not grasping the banana. But as long as the monkey holds onto the banana, he’s stuck. His tight fist around the banana keeps him trapped.

You would think the monkey would simply let go so he could be free, but he doesn’t. He holds onto what he wants. He makes noises, jumps around, and shakes the gourd, but he won’t release his grip, making it easy for the catcher to catch him. The monkey could have had all the bananas he could eat hanging on trees, but he gets it in his head that he’s got to have that solitary banana in the gourd. And he won’t let go of it, literally.

We can all act like a monkey in this regard, can’t we? So we ask a simple question today: What are each of you holding too tightly? What has a grip on you as much as you have a grip on it? And more importantly, what can you do to loosen your clinched fist and release it to God?

The greatness of a man’s power is the measure of his surrender.

—William Booth