Awhile back I was reading an interesting article

That leads me to ask the question,

I wonder are we any smarter at times than monkeys?

Well, what do I mean by that?

Well, I was reading this article that i picked up

And it was an interesting story

About this tribe in Africa.

And they had this ingenious way of trapping wild monkeys

That were then shipped off to the zoo.

The thought of it is not pleasant

But it’s an interesting story that makes a point.

The stories told how they would hollow out

The large pumpkin or gourd and they’d cut a hole in it

And it would be just big enough for the monkey

To get their hands in, slip it through there.

And then they would fill the pumpkin with peanuts

And pumpkin seed and other kinds of things

And they’d hang the gourd back on the tree.

And when all is quiet, the curious monkeys

Then would come to investigate and they’d smell the bait.

And then that’s when they would reach their hand

Into the hole and grab a fistful of peanuts.

But the hole was not big enough for them

To pull out their closed fist.

And refusing to open their fist

And release this wonderful prize that they had,

They were stuck.

And that’s when the tribe could pick up these

Trapped monkeys and sadly they would be shipped off

To live in a zoo forever.

All because they didn’t know enough to let go.

And sometimes we might ask ourselves,

Are we any smarter?

Because often we refuse to let go of the things

That are making our lives so much less

Than what we want them to be,

Much less than what God wants them to be.

And we cling to those things that enable us

To have the trappings of a lifestyle,

But at the cost of a life in which joy and love

And fulfillment should be at the center.

That’s what God wants us to have at the center.

And so today we’re reminded the gifts of God

Can only be grasped with an open hand of humility

And prayer because the closed hands of materialism

And self-centeredness, those are the things

That condemn us to a life of emptiness.

As the tower builder and the king preparing for war discover,

Our days are precious, too precious to waste time

Obsessing about meaningless and trivial things

At the expense of our relationships with God,

With family and friends.

So then why does Jesus say, whoever comes to me

And doesn’t hate father or mother, wife and children,

Brother and sister, even life itself,

Cannot be my disciple?

It sounds so strange.

Well, Jesus uses these words simply to drive home

What we often easily forget.

His point, discipleship involves complete

And total commitment to his way of life and love.

He’s challenging us to make God in Christ

The ultimate priority and be willing to sacrifice

Everything for him.

And how we live and what we do, in the decisions we make,

The question Jesus confronts us with today is this.

Do we seek out and embrace the greater,

Infinitely more important and lasting things of God?

Do more than exist, live.

Do more than touch, feel.

Do more than hear, listen.

Do more than be kind, love.

Do more than listen, try to understand.

Do more than talk about Jesus, give witness.

Do more than speak about Jesus, act.

Are we embracing infinitely the more important

And lasting things of God?

That should be our focus every day.