- Morning Devotional
- September 3,
2005
"Let It Go"
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Jesus replied, "The time has come for the Son of Man to enter into his glory. The truth is, a kernel of wheat must be planted in the soil. Unless it dies it will be alone--a single seed. But its death will produce many new kernels--a plentiful harvest of new lives. Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who despise their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. All those who want to be my disciples must come and follow me, because my servants must be where I am. And if they follow me, the Father will honor them. (John 12:23-26 NLT).
I am a little embarrassed to admit that I have been spending the afternoon relaxing and watching an old movie, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. It actually got me moving a bit by inspiring me to write this devotional. There is one moment in this movie starring Harrison Ford as the adventurous archeologist, Indiana Jones, when toward the end of the movie, after having found the Holy Grail, Ford is tempted to take it with him from its hiding place in an obscure cave. This is after knowing it must stay where it is, guarded by an ancient medieval knight, or its bearer will face certain death.
Nevertheless, Ford tries to reach with one hand for the Grail that has lodged itself in a crag in the rock, while holding onto his father’s hands with the other, as he dangles over a bottomless pit. As if in a trance, gripped by the power of the Grail, Indiana Jones thinks he can escape the fate of the woman who has just fallen to her death trying to do the very same thing. After all, he wants its power for good, she wanted it for herself. Still, it is the voice of Indiana’s father (Sean Connery) that finally brings him to his senses: “Indiana! Let it go!”
It’s important to reach for things beyond our grasp. That is one of the ways we grow. Faith is discovered in the process of reaching out. Peter saw Jesus on the water and it was his idea to walk out to Him. But Jesus was right there with him. Peter was actually walking toward Christ. That’s a lot different from this illustration where Indiana Jones is holding onto his father’s hands and trying to reach for something else. If you have to let go of God to reach something, it’s probably not a good idea. Faith never leads us away from God.
Someone has written in response to this movie scene: “So many times it has happened that when I turn back to the Father and grasp with both hands, I see the danger I could have fallen into by reaching for what I thought was the greatest thing since sliced bread. Often times what was truly amazing was also truly wrong for me.” When given a choice between letting go of God and letting go of something else, make it a no-brainer to let go of that something else, no matter how good it might be.
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