I gave a talk recently.

I tried something new - something I hoped would really work.

It didn’t. 

But I’d do it again - not the part that didn’t work - but the part that made me try.

Every day we face decisions to either step out on stage, or crawl into the corner under a blanket. 

When Jesus confronted the religious elite, as we’ll hear about Sunday, he affirmed the former - and asked disciples of all time to let go of a broken, established order and hold on to the fresh, new, living voice of God calling. Here are some examples:

Let go of feelings of insignificance, and hold on to the promise that God has plans for you.

Let go of feelings of regret and missed opportunities, and hold onto the fact you did as well as you could under the circumstances - and that is enough.

Let go of the thinking that life is about achievement, and hold on to the idea that life is about fulfillment.

Let go of the idea that your best years are behind you, hold on to the promise that life in Jesus means things are always getting better.

Let go of the notion that things need to be done the way they’ve always been done, and hold onto the notion that the voice guiding you toward something new can be trusted.

Let go and hold on.