Monkey In A Jar

In the parable of the sower and the seed Jesus tells us that the his message of the Kingdom of God will be choked out by the "cares of this world" -- that is the desire for material possessions, income, anxiety--basically control and security issues. As I read this story i was reminded of the old illustration of the monkey who reaches into a jar to get a fruit that was stored there. Once his hand is around the fruit the size of his closed hand will not allow him to remove his hand from the jar. He is "trapped" unless he is willing to let go of the fruit.

It seems to be me that many of us "trapped" because we are unwilling to let go of the "fruit" that we have found but keeps us trapped in our kingdom. We don't want to let go of what we have to risk experiencing everything that God has to offer in his Kingdom. Ironically the wealth of Calgary seems to make us even more unwilling to let go of our stuff so that we can receive God's stuff all while we complain about the pace of life, the attitudes of our kids, the general greed within our society...you know the lines.

Jesus said that the Kingdom of God is like the greatest treasure you could ever find. A treasure that you would be willing to sell everything for and yet Christ-followers don't seem to realise how great their treasure is.

While explaining the parable of the sower and the seed to his disciples Jesus referred to the deceitfulness of wealth, in other words wealth will fool us into thinking that that security comes from wealth but it is only a false security. My frustration is that I let myself be deceived! I have experienced God's truth but i shelve for what lies that look good. My hand is stuck in the jar and I won't let go of my "treasure" to get real treasure.

When we see the monkey with their hand caught in the jar we intuitively know how simple the solution to the problem is. Just let go. The only trap is in the heart. If only it were so simple.