The Little Boy and the Vase

There is a beautiful story about a child playing with a vase his mother had left on the table for a few moments. When the mother turned at the sound of her son crying she saw that his hand was in the vase and apparently stuck. She tried to help him and pulled and pulled until the child cried out in pain but the hand was stuck fast.

How would they get it out? The father suggested breaking the vase but it was quite valuable And the child's hand might be cut in the process. Yet he knew that if all else failed there would be no other alternative so he said to the boy, NOW, let's make one more try. Open your hand and stretch your fingers out straight like I'm doing, and then pull

"But Dad," said the boy, "If I do that I'll lose my penny.
The boy had a coin in his hand all the time and was holding it securely in his tight little fist.

He wasn't prepared to open his hand and lose the penny,

but once he opened his hand His hand came out of the vase easily. What are you holding onto so tightly as to hinder your walk with Jesus

That vase can be likened to the entrance to the kingdom of GOD. It is narrow, but quite easy to pass in.

First you must "OPEN" your hand to GOD and allow earthly things to fall. If we keep our fists closed and hold fast to what we have, and keep it for ourselves we will be unable to take hold of the "Hand of GOD".

We arrived with nothing and will depart the same way.
Jesus told the parable of the rich man who wanted to build bigger barns to store his grain and goods, but God said to him,
You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you.

Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?
We need to be on guard or the things we own will begin to own us. It is our own clenched fist that makes us a prisoner

Open your hand to the hand of God. Everyone needs recognition for his accomplishments, but few people make the need known quite as clearly as the little boy who told his father he didn't want to lose his penny