Let It Go

^1-3 Joram son of Ahab began his rule over Israel in Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah. He was king for twelve years. In God's sight he was a bad king. But he wasn't as bad as his father and mother—to his credit he destroyed the obscene Baal stone that his father had made. But he hung on to the sinful practices of Jeroboam son of Nebat, the ones that had corrupted Israel for so long. He wasn't about to give them up. II Kings 3:1-3 Message Bible

Have you ever felt like Joram? Have you ever said, "But God, I have come a long way. I don't do what they do." Or, have you said, "But God, I don't do what I used to do." Sometimes we hear the Lord asking us to give up something more, to rise to another level and all we want to do is make a list to God of all the things we have already done. Unfortunately, God isn't interested in lists. He knows your spiritual resume already. He only asks for obedience.

The Bible says Joram was better than his mother and father. Since his mother and father were Ahab and Jezebel, this actually wouldn't be hard to do. Still, in God's sight, he was not good because there were things he just wouldn't let go of. There were old sins that he just couldn't seem to part with. It seems as if Joram felt he had done enough.

When a person is a new Christian, the Lord will treat them as the "baby Christian" that they are. He doesn't expect them to change everything in one day. Over time, He will ask more and more from a Christian.

As you seek Him, you will desire to give Him more and more of yourself. This can be a very rewarding and natural progression, if you let it be. Then, there will come a day that He asks for that one thing which you have no desire to part with. That's when people often decide they have done more than the ones before them, more than the other people they know, and it is just too much to give up that "thing."

Is God asking you to let go of something today? Is He trying to raise you to a new level? Ask the Lord to reveal to you the hidden places of your heart. Ask Him to shed light on anything you are holding back from Him. The blessing is always worth the sacrifice, in the end.