My granddaughter and I play a game called find the paci. I’ve learned not to wait until bedtime or naptime to make the search. Each time she wakes, before I even lift her out of the crib, I make a big deal of searching for her pacifier. She has usually tossed it aside during her sleep and it ends up in the most confounding places. The pacifier is part of her routine that she will one day outgrow, but for now, it aids her in falling asleep.
My babies never formed any sort of attachment to objects like blankets or pacifiers but I enjoyed a special closeness with each one in turn. This may have seemed like clinginess while my young mother senses were overwhelmed, but in retrospect, those seasons are treasures stored up in my heart like Mary’s.
“but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often.”
Luke 2:19 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/luk.2.19.NLT
The things I cling to are telling. Some point to a future hope. The shelves filled with picture books that I once read to my own children survived almost three decades and half a dozen moves and are now in the hands of two grandchildren. The unused sleeves of newborn sized Huggies in the guest room closet await a third. Holding onto these was an easy choice because they cause me to look toward a future day when my hopes will be realized.
My children’s baby clothes and most of their toys and furniture were passed down to my siblings for their children to use and have found new homes many times since. Stewardship
is a practice for all of life. Jesus taught his disciples this concept in many ways, but most profoundly by pointing to the ultimate sacrifice He came to make which was then unknown to His followers. In looking back on the cross through the lens of the Holy Spirit, God enables us to see the cost of our salvation, the price He paid for us to be reconciled to Him and to experience abundant life.
“Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me.
If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it.
But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.
And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed?”
Luke 9:23-25 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/luk.9.23-25.NLT
“If you cling to your life, you will lose it, and if you let your life go, you will save it.”
Luke 17:33 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/luk.17.33.NLT
It sounds counterintuitive. Keeping means holding tighter, right? Mine! I picture two toddlers grasping the same toy. Yet Jesus says that it’s only when we loosen our grip and relinquish our hold on our own life, choosing instead to cling to Him and His Word, we will find life worth living.
“Remain in me, and I will remain in you.
For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.
Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches.
Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit.
For apart from me you can do nothing.”
John 15:4-5 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jhn.15.4-5.NLT
Before Pentecost, prior to the advent of God’s Spirit on all believers, Jesus explained his messages in detail to those who followed Him closely. The curious or casual observer may have walked away awed by the message, but standing in awe of Jesus as a wise man or gifted communicator is not the same as acknowledging Him as supreme Lord, God incarnate. Jesus confronted the Jews with having been entrusted with stewarding the Word of God but of rejecting Him, the One about whom scripture speaks.
“You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life.
But the Scriptures point to me! Yet you refuse to come to me to receive this life.”
John 5:39-40 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jhn.5.39-40.NLT
“When he had said this, he called out, “Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.”
His disciples asked him what this parable meant.
He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of God.
But I use parables to teach the others so that the Scriptures might be fulfilled: ‘When they look, they won’t really see. When they hear, they won’t understand.’”
This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is God’s word.
The seeds that fell on the footpath represent those who hear the message, only to have the devil come and take it away from their hearts and prevent them from believing and being saved.
The seeds on the rocky soil represent those who hear the message and receive it with joy. But since they don’t have deep roots, they believe for a while, then they fall away when they face temptation.
The seeds that fell among the thorns represent those who hear the message, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares and riches and pleasures of this life. And so they never grow into maturity.
And the seeds that fell on the good soil represent honest, good-hearted people who hear God’s word, cling to it, and patiently produce a huge harvest.
No one lights a lamp and then covers it with a bowl or hides it under a bed.
A lamp is placed on a stand, where its light can be seen by all who enter the house.
For all that is secret will eventually be brought into the open, and everything that is concealed will be brought to light and made known to all.
So pay attention to how you hear.
To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given.
But for those who are not listening, even what they think they understand will be taken away from them.””
Luke 8:8-18 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/luk.8.8-18.NLT
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.
Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.
Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom.
Instead, fear the Lord and turn away from evil.”
Proverbs 3:5-7 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/pro.3.5-7.NLT
“But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says.
Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like.
But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.
If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless.
Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.”
James 1:22-27 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jas.1.22-24.NLT
When Peter and John were arrested for preaching resurrection of the dead in Jesus’s name, they were taken before the religious high council to answer questions. Their defense was sound and spoken with the confidence.
“The council members were astonished as they witnessed the bold courage of Peter and John, especially when they discovered that they were just ordinary men who had never had religious training.
Then they began to understand the effect Jesus had on them simply by spending time with him.”
Acts 4:13 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/act.4.13.TPT
Proximity to Jesus changes me. As I grow in relationship to Christ, I become less dependent on things of this world. Things that once defined me fall away. I become keenly aware of things that don’t align with His Word. An intimacy develops that fosters deeper trust and obedience comes more naturally. He gives me ears to hear and eyes to see and I stand amazed in His presence. All the things I once clung to are forgotten in a moment. Jesus is all I need.
A Fitting Reply 