HANGING ON

I assume we’ve all seen the poster or picture of a frightened little kitten hanging on to a rope for dear life.  By common sense and past experience we know that a kitten or a person can’t hang on forever.  He has to make a decision or the decision will be made for him.  Fatigue or entropy will eventually win if he just decides to try to hang on without moving.  How many try to do that in the challenges of their lives?  It can’t be done for long.  One must move on or he will fall backward or off his rope.

I wish to speak today about not only holding on or letting go, but a third alternative—climbing upward.

A couple of Biblical scriptures come to mind:  The Old Testament prophet Elijah was not one to try to hang on to the status quo; he constantly enjoined people to move upward:  “How long halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God (of which fact Elijah had no doubt), follow him: but if Baal, then follow him.  And the people answered him not a word.”  The rest of the chapter records the result of the peoples’ equivocation and a prophet’s actions  (see 1 Kings 18:21).

For Christians, how does Jesus view such equivocation? To some church members in the time of his early apostles’ ministry he first gave commendation, to others encouragement, then to some who were halted in their progress a chastisement.

To illustrate I paraphrase, in light of my metaphor of the cat hanging on,  a passage from Revelation 3: 8, 10, 11, 12, 15-22. God knows what challenges we have and of the degree of our efforts to make it to the top of our rope.  Our “hour of temptation” is the temptation to let go, to quit, to cave in.  But he encourages us to “hold that fast which thou hast” (our rope—our worthy goal) and keep climbing!  There is great reward for those who make it to the top.  For some otherwise good people, though, he is not pleased: “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot …so then because thou are lukewarm. . . I will spue thee out of my mouth.”  Why? Because of their apathy or fear.  Self-justification, he tells us, will not avail.  Start climbing!  “To him that overcometh” the fatigue and entropy of the daily challenges of life, “will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, . . . with my Father in his throne.”

Far too many people claim they are just hanging on; and in fact they may be if the only criterion they judge their lives by is their financial status or outlook. But the reality is that they are falling backward in their apathy as they waste the days of their probation spiritually, intellectually, physically or socially. 

There is always something we can do to move toward a higher goal.  And there is always somebody to help us.