Why Do We Fight Him?

Our whole lives as Christians can be a constant tug of war between our flesh and the Holy Spirit. Some of us live our whole lives without a total surrender to the One who loves us, the One who gave everything He had so that we might have LIFE - and yet we refuse this life, true life, by not giving all of ourselves to Him.

John 10:10 (NLT) "The thief's purpose is to steal, kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life."

If your hands are already full, how can you accept a gift? Imagine that you are holding onto 2 rotten apples, one in each hand. Then a close friend comes along with 2 ripe apples, nice and red and juicy and crisp - 2 perfect apples. (I am making myself hungry here!) You look at those apples, and you know they are good. You know they would be much better for you than the rotten ones you have in your hands. Your friend desperately wants to give you his apples, but even though you want to do it, you can't accept the perfect apples he is offering you because you are still holding onto the rotten ones. You don't have room in your hands to have all the apples - you have to put down the rotten ones before you can accept the perfect apples.

Ok, I know that using apples is a little different, but I'm pretty sure that you get the picture. I know I do!

We hold on to our pride - we want to be in control of our lives, of our dreams, our goals, our relationships, our decisions, our whole lives. Jesus offers us LIFE, and we look at Him and we know that what He has for us is so much better than what we are holding onto, but we don't let go, so we cannot accept what He is offering us.

The great thing about Jesus is that His patience does not end - because His love for us doesn't end either! As long as we have breath, His offer of LIFE will not expire. Christians, as soon as you let go, you will be free to accept what He has to offer you! A rich and satisfying LIFE!!

We need to let go...learn to live our lives not with a closed fist, but with open hands. Open hands don't hold onto anything in this life; not possessions, not people, not dreams, and not even burdens or offences. Open hands. It gives God full freedom to do what He has always wanted to do in your life - give you LIFE!