Hold Lightly What You Value Greatly

Hold Lightly What God Has Given You

In writing these words I am aware that I only dimly understand their full meaning. At this point in my life I still have many things in my hands—my wife, my three boys, a wonderful daughter-in-law and another one coming soon, my friends, my career, my health, my dreams, my plans for the future. But the process of growing older is nothing more than this—learning to hold lightly the things God has given you, knowing that you can’t keep them forever anyway. At any moment, he can take them away—one by one, two at a time, or all of them together. Or he could take back the life he gave me 54 years ago.

If I have any advice for you, it is this. Learn to hold lightly what God has given you. You can’t keep it forever and you can’t take it with you.

Some of you who read these words are in the midst of a great struggle in your life. You feel pressured about something and you don’t want to give it up. But you must . . . and you will. I can’t spare you the pain of yielding your dearest treasures to God, but I promise you the joy will far outweigh the pain you feel right now.

We call the story Jesus told the parable of the rich fool. But he wasn’t a fool because he was rich. He was a fool because he tried to hold on to what was never his in the first place.

Don’t be a fool!

Let go of the things you own.

Hold lightly what you value greatly.

It all belongs to God anyway.