I reckon letting go is a part of life.

When a baby is born it is totally dependent upon it’s parents – Life then seems to be about becoming independent of parents from that from very first total dependency.

 Coming off milk and learning to feed yourself  - is a form of letting go.

Learning to walk – without the aid of a walker involves letting go.

I remember my parents letting me go.  I went off to University and learned to stand on my own 2 feet. I had to do my own washing cooking, money management, the lot. It was hard.  I remember that you never booked the washing machines after the rugby team otherwise your clothes came out dirtier than when they first went in.  I often give thanks that my Mum and Dad let me go.  It was one of the most important gifts they gave me.  It was hard for them, it involved a lot of letters and phone calls during that first year at college. But they knew, they knew as parents that they had to let me go,..

Marriage is all about letting go. It says in Genesis that a mother will leave her family and the husband and wife will become one.  Both parties are involved in letting go.

Sometimes letting go is about losing control, losing control over a possession as you lend it to a brother, system or neighbour; letting go of a child as they grow up and want to learn more independence, letting go of a habit which damages you,    

The flip side of the coin is about trust.  Sometimes we will not let go because we do not trust, we worry about what will happen if we do let go…

Have a look at this…Video:  Mr. Worry

What do people leave behind?

They spent some time in Jericho. As Jesus was leaving town, trailed by his disciples and a parade of people, a blind beggar by the name of Bartimaeus, son of Timaeus, was sitting alongside the road. When he heard that Jesus the Nazarene was passing by, he began to cry out, “Son of David, Jesus! Mercy, have mercy on me!” Many tried to hush him up, but he yelled all the louder, “Son of David! Mercy, have mercy on me!”

Jesus stopped in his tracks. “Call him over.”

They called him. “It’s your lucky day! Get up! He’s calling you to come!” Throwing off his coat, he was on his feet at once and came to Jesus. Jesus said, “What can I do for you?”

The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.”

 “On your way,” said Jesus. “Your faith has saved and healed you.”

In that very instant he recovered his sight and followed Jesus down the road.

Mark 10: 46-52 (The Message)

The woman took the hint and left. In her confusion she left her water pot. Back in the village she told the people, “Come see a man who knew all about the things I did, who knows me inside and out. Do you think this could be the Messiah?” And they went out to see for themselves.

John 4: 28-29 (The Message)

Matthew 9:20 – 21 (The Message)

Jesus was at Bethany, a guest of Simon the Leper. While he was eating dinner, a woman came up carrying a bottle of very expensive perfume. Opening the bottle, she poured it on his head. Some of the guests became furious among themselves. “That’s criminal! A sheer waste! This perfume could have been sold for well over a year’s wages and handed out to the poor.” They swelled up in anger, nearly bursting with indignation over her.

Mark 14: 3-5 (The Message)

Not long after that, Jesus went to the village Nain. His disciples were with him, along with quite a large crowd. As they approached the village gate, they met a funeral procession—a woman’s only son was being carried out for burial. And the mother was a widow. When Jesus saw her, his heart broke. He said to her, “Don’t cry.” Then he went over and touched the coffin. The pallbearers stopped. He said, “Young man, I tell you: Get up.” The dead son sat up and began talking. Jesus presented him to his mother.

Luke 7:11-15 (The Message)

Peter tried to regain some initiative: “We left everything we owned and followed you, didn’t we?” “Yes,” said Jesus, “and you won’t regret it. No one who has sacrificed home, spouse, brothers and sisters, parents, children—whatever— will lose out. It will all come back multiplied many times over in your lifetime. And then the bonus of eternal life!”

Luke 18:28-30 (The Message)

THE THINGS WE LEAVE BEHIND

There sits Simon, foolish and wise.

Proudly he’s tending his nets.

Jesus calls and the boats drift away.

And all that he owns he forgets.

But more than the nets he abandoned that day,

 He found that his pride was soon fading away.

It’d hard to imagine the freedom we find.

From the things we leave behind.

The sightless beggar, pleading each day,

Catching the coins in his robe.

At finding Jesus he threw it away

And joyfully followed his Lord.

But more than the robe that he left by the way,

The darkness that dwelt in hid heart went away.

It’d hard to imagine the freedom we find

From the thing we leave behind.

Matthew was mindful of taking the tax

And pressing the people to pay.

At hearing the call he responded in failh

And followed the Light and the Way.

And leaving the people so puzzled he found

That the greed in hid heart was no lonqer around

It’s hard to imagine the freedom we find

From the things we leave behind.

Taken from Reflections on the life of Christ by Michael Card

I sometimes have a picture in my head, it is almost a vision that reoccurs: I see a path disappearing in the distance. Either side is strewn with various objects: a cloak…a cane…an expensive car, the door left open, the keys still in the ignition. The list is endless. The objects represent things people have left behind to follow Jesus. In the vision I keep looking for things I have left behind for His sake.

Almost everyone who follows Jesus in the New Testament leaves something behind for His sake. Simon and the other disciples who were fishermen left their nets and boats. James and John, the sons of Zebedee, left their father In the process as well as a prosperous family business. Archaeologists tell us they have uncovered a fish market, a “branch office” in Jerusalem that belonged to Zebedee (perhaps the first store in a chain called, “Captain Zee’s?”).

Matthew left behind an even more lucrative business, tax gathering. Not only do I see his tax booth abandoned alongside my visionary path, I see a pile of money on it. Once Matthew left his wealth to follow Jesus we never hear him mention money or power again!

Others left things behind after they encountered Jesus:-

·         The blind beggar, who used his cloak to gather the coins he begged, jumped up and left the cloak lying there after Jesus gave him his sight.

·         The woman at the well ran off and forgot her water jar once she was confronted by this man who told her “everything she had ever done:’

·         The woman who suffered from continual bleeding left a long line of doctors behind.  The son of the widow of Nain left an empty coffin lying there by the city gate. 

·         The sinful woman left behind an empty alabaster perfume jar.  

·         Lazarus, perhaps most miraculous of all, left behind a pile of grave clothes and an empty tomb.

You can go on and on. The farther down the path you get, the higher the possessions piled on either side. With each object the travelers left behind, and leave behind, a small piece of themselves, because a possession isn’t a little something you own, as much as something that owns a little bit of you. We leave behind a part of our old self.  In return for whatever small thing we discard Jesus gives us a part of Himself in exchange. With Him is great freedom from those things we leave behind, freedom from that greatest self-possessing possession, our “self.”

Let go…