Monkey Huntin'

After my own experience with the I AM bible study (see sidebar) and reading the responses of others, I was reminded of an analogy I was told when I was a teenager.

In southeast Asia monkeys are a delicacy and when men want to go monkey hunting they drill a hole the size of a monkey's hand into a gourd, place a treat of fruit inside and tie the gourd to a tree.

Then the monkey comes along and puts his fist in the hole and grabs a hold of the fruit real tight, only to discover he can't get both his hand and the fruit out of the gourd.

Rather than let go of the fruit, the monkey keeps trying and trying to free both his fist and the treat, even when the hunter approaches. No matter what, that monkey just can't let go.

Aren't we just like that?

Whether it be sin or past hurts, Satan knows how to bait that trap well. We put our hand in that hole and grab on. All we have to do to be free is let go - and instead we keep trying to take things with us. Things that inevitably lead to disaster. Things that have no power except the power we give them.

And we just can't let go. We try to pull and push and squeeze these things into our Christian walk when all they're really doing is keeping us trapped. Maybe... just maybe, we can avert disaster and pull that gourd away from the tree and run off... but don't we look silly, trailing something like that behind us?

What's your bait? What keeps you trapped when all you really have to do is let go?