Don't Let Go

Song of Solomon 3:4

"It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother's house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me."

Nearly every week of my life I leave to go preach at a meeting for someone. One of the hardest things I do each week is leave my wife and daughter to go to the airport. I have yet to find the easy way to do this. During my daughter's early years, she would often grab one of my legs and hang on as I would head to the garage. She would say, "Daddy, I'm not letting you go." I finally had to tell her that daddy had to go and help people. She reluctantly let go, and I would leave with my heart crushed because I wanted to be with her and my wife.

In the verse above, the wife said she found her husband and "would not let him go." This lady searched her whole life for the right man, and now that she found him she was determined to hold on to him. She wasn't going to let anything come between her and her husband. She wanted to be close to him. I would think that this type of desire the wife had for her husband had a way of keeping him close to her. Just like my daughter grabbing my leg and not letting me go made it hard for me to leave, I also believe it made it that much more difficult for this husband to leave his wife.

Married couples should have a determination that they are not going to let their spouse go. I'm constantly amazed how couples who are struggling are so quick to divorce their spouse. Where is the determination not to let their spouse go?

Every spouse should determine to hold on to their husband/wife and not let them go. Don't let your spouse go for another person. Don't let your spouse go for your career. Don't let your spouse go for personality conflicts. Don't let your spouse go because you are going through a short spell of marital problems. Your marriage can make it, and you can work through your marital problems if both husband and wife will determine not to let each other go.

Moreover, I believe parents and children need to get the determination not to let each other go. I know children grow up and some of the things like my daughter did when I left for a meeting were an childlike stage action, but you can still emotionally hang on to each other and not let things or people pull you apart. Every family needs to be careful not to let technologies pull them apart. Don't get so wrapped up in other things that you truly never spend time with each other. Grab on to each other and spend time together, for you never know when your loved one will be gone.

Most importantly, every Christian needs to grab on to God and determine not to let Him go. Of course, you can never lose your salvation, but you must determine to hold on to God if you are going to keep Him first in your life. Don't let trials and heartaches cause you to let go of God. Don't let disillusionment in leaders cause you to let go of God. Latch on to God and determine that money, career advancement, outside activities or friends will not cause you to let go of God. Grab ahold of God and determine you are going to stay close to Him no matter what comes your way. Be as determined as Job was in Job 13:15 when he said, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him:..." Determine that you will hold on to God until the day of your death.