Glow in the Dark Bracelets

Four glow in the dark bracelets. Four bracelets lighting up the arm of my sweet five year old daughter. Then the drama begins as I innocently suggest she share one, just one, bracelet with her three year old friend. I even go so far to mention that there are nine more in the van awaiting her return, but the pride of ownership and of selfish possession had taken full control and she refused to even contemplate sharing for even a moment.

As we left the church that evening, I spoke to her about sharing with others. How it shows love. How it is kindness. How we share especially when we have so much more. She was intent though, intent on holding on to what she could see on her arm. She was intent on gaining more when we reached the van. "Not all of them mommy. Just to get to seven." As we walked outside into the chilly night and across the darkened parking lot, I was stunned by a revelation. 

I am that five year old. 

I am holding on to the things I can see here in this world, even knowing the abundant blessings that God has ready for me. Blessings greater than anything I have here on this temporary world. 

I am not the only one holding on though. The saddest ones holding on are ones who are not even saved. They know God is real. They know Jesus is real. Yet they will tell you that they are not ready to commit to God. They are not ready to accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour. They want to become better before they go to Jesus. They want to get their lives straight. 

I have heard all the excuses and each time my heart breaks for them. They are so busy holding on to what is temporary, what they can see in this world, to accept what God is offering to them. They have the logic to understand there is something greater, their hearts have been prompted by the Holy Spirit yet they keep holding on to this world. 

We as Christians do it too. We hold on to our hurts. Our selfish desires. Our possessions. Our money. Our time. Oh, how we hang on to our time. We know God. We seek God on Sundays, maybe even on Wednesday evenings. Yet when He calls to us Monday through Saturday, we are too busy holding on to other things. Our priorities are just greater in our minds. We have our excuses too. Family. Work. Hobbies. It does not give us peace. It would overwhelm us. No time in our schedules. 

The thing we forget is that when God calls us for something, everything else fades away. He calls us to His glory, not ours. He provides His peace. Our priorities will be fixed to meet His goals. But first we have to let go. Let go of our selfish desires and wants in our lives. Let go of the priorities we think are important to our family. Let go of our hurts and let Him heal us. Go to Him more than just one or maybe two days a week. We know theses things. We know His plans are so much better than ours. We know everything works to His glory. If we know, why are we still holding on?

We are all like five year olds, holding on to our glow in the dark bracelets. Even though we know our Father has more than we will ever need waiting on us.