There is a trick they use in Africa to catch baboons. You bore a hole in a termite mound while they are watching. Then you slip some goodies in the hole and wait. The baboon will come and try to retrieve the mysterious snack. However, once he grabs hold of what is in the hole, his hand is too big to pull it out. Someone runs in and ties up the baboon. Then he is caught. There are several lessons from this we could glean, but today I want to focus on just one.
The baboon would have gotten free and avoided being captured if he would have just let go. Often, we have the same issue. We know and understand something isn’t right; however, we won’t let go. Not letting go causes us not to grow and in the worst cases causes us to die in our sins. God said, “Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us,” (Hebrews 12:1). He says this in the context of running the race of faith through this world in Him. You cannot run if you are weighed down or held still by something you won’t let go of. Even if you attempt to race with a heavy load, eventually, you only have one choice if you want to keep going. You either lay it down or quit going.
Mind you the baboon knows instantly he’s caught. The hunter wasted no time in capturing it. However, sometimes it takes a while for us to learn that we are stuck in something we ought not be in. Either way, we know. We know if there is something or someone in our lives that we are to let go of. We know that holding on to it/them is causing the shipwreck of our faith. Perhaps, in the long suffering of God, we try to create a delusion that we will not be captured if we hold on to those things. Do not be so naive as to think delayed punishment means no punishment at all.
Think about your life this week. What are you holding on to that is keeping you from growing? Is it hatred? Envy? Greed? Vengeance? Acceptance? Or any sin? Please, lay aside the weight and sin that so easily ensnares you. As God says, “Run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:1,2)
-Steve Johnson
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