God’s Grip

Often someone will criticize another for having ‘too tight a hold’ on items. It may be an item of hobby or a material possession that is greatly admired. True, our covetous hearts are bent towards idolatry (and that right quickly, see Exodus 32:8). But, if we possess the item and use it to accomplish a purpose, we have the item and the item ‘doesn’t have us,’ and it is lawful then there is nothing wrong with a having a tight grip on something. As a matter a fact, such a grip may imply how useful the tool really is in our hands. A tight grip may mean that the item has a tremendous monetary value even though others don’t agree. A tight grip may mean the item is symbolic of something or someone that made a great effort on our behalf, etc. All over this world there are flashlights, pocket knives, fountain pens, and (insert your trinket of choice here) that to the average onlooker look like a worthless (or overpriced) waste of time, effort, and resources. But, I think it is safe to say that the greater the price paid, and the greater the joy derived from, and the longer we wish it to remain in the family line the tighter the grip will be…

All over this world there are men, women, boys, and girls that to society look useless, feeble, sinful, dirty, shamed, cast off, and undesirable. They may look like inadequate tools but they are used in His hand as tools to accomplish His will. They may look like ragged heirlooms but they are handcrafted originals soon to be restored… only this time with incorruptible ingredients that won’t be subject to decay. But, unseen to human eyes, they are held by a grip as strong as death. Someone holds them with a grip so tight that every human force seen and every devilish force unseen tries in vain to pluck them from safety. They are held securely because He will see to it that they stay in the family forever… and the reason they are held onto so tightly isn’t because in themselves they are worth so much, but because they were freely purchased with a price so great.

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.”

John 10:27-29