I was certain …no, I was proud, that I had no attachments.
I was free and convinced of being unattached to external
circumstances. Nothing could hinder or slow me down.
Until…..just one small incident exposed the deception.
This isn’t about PDF files you attach to your emails. This is
about emotional attachments that join you together with
someone or something. Long standing attachments become
valuable sources of stability and reliability. When they are
threatened, the degree of attachment is revealed.
Such was my experience re my cell phone. My cell phone!
The phone number I had for approx 9 years couldn’t port to
my new carrier. The ensuing drama was short lived, ridiculous,
and painfully revealing.
The bottom line …my phone number had become my identity!
Those 10 digits represented me to others in every area of my life.
The task of reconnecting the past with the present via my new
number initially seemed an unquestionable necessity. The sheer
absurdity of that thought brought everything into right perspective!
The deeper issue was if I couldn’t let go of a cell phone number,
what about my life? Intellectually we can have all the right
answers, but in a real life confrontation, our response will reveal
whatever we really believe in our heart. Jesus addressed it this
way: “If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you
give up your life for my sake, you will save it.” Mt 16:25
How easy it is to allow emotional attachments to people, objects,
and geographic locations overrule God’s presence and guidance
in our life. We become one with whoever or whatever we join our
self to…”But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.”
1 Corinthians 6:17 There’s my true identity!