Imagine this. You are carrying one of those big metal tubs filled with water and apples for kids to bob for at the annual fall festival when someone tosses you a ball. There’s no way you can catch the ball without dropping the “Bobbin’ Bin.”
Truthfully the weight of that water is killing you and you have 200 more yards to go. The ball is much lighter and a game of catch really does seem more appealing. But you hesitate. You can’t do both.
This is the place where you decide whether to keep lugging the heavy weight or let it go, free to catch the ball instead.
This is the moment where you decide if you’re willing to surrender.
The apples now represent baggage- trauma, guilt, grief, divorce, regrets, shame…whatever weighs you down in the already heavy water of life. The ball is a life of complete devotion to the Lord.
You can let it go, fully surrender, and have both hands free to catch the ball being softly lobbed to you. You won’t miss it- His aim is perfect and His serve is soft.
But you can’t catch it while carrying the burden of the bin. Nor can you let go of the bin and keep a few apples. Your hands are still unable to grasp the ball of complete surrender when you’re holding on to other things.
“Abandon oneself entirely” means to give up your own thoughts and dreams so that His thoughts become yours.
But we have the mind of Christ. 1 Corinthians 2:16
His plans take precedence over your own because they far surpass anything you could’ve ever imagined. (Jeremiah 29:11)
Are you carrying in your heart a bunch of fruit that will soon rot? Or are you eating from the tree of life, grabbing its trunk with everything you have?
Serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Deuteronomy 10:12
faith unfaded 
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