Biblical imagery can be very stark, indeed powerful. Picture the lioness: her jaws can rip, tear and snap something hunted, yet they can also serve and protect, gently carry a weaning cub from danger to safety…the grip is clear yet much, much less intense.

The grip: its intensity can either smother or it can offer protective care. Transfer this image to the way you treat objects as ‘goods’. Consider how you might cling tightly to things and people that are not actually good for you. Learn to let go of a dysfunctional relationship, of a position in a toxic work environment, of a career that doesn’t bring satisfaction, of unhappiness, of being in control. In this, and in so many other ways, you can begin to allow your grip to cling healthily to the Lord Jesus, who constantly invites us to take Hid hand into our own and be led to freedom, wholeness, and the fullness of life in Him.