Golden Handcuffs

I only have two years to retirement ... Have you heard this refrain from sagging souls, the people that are dragging their carcasses around, grinding their lives away on the rough edges of work gone bad? 

A former friend of mine referred to the paycheque attached to her employment as golden handcuffs. I hadn't heard the term before, and upon reflection, I think we all wear these handcuffs, to a certain degree. There are things or people we are attached to as our security, that make us feel comforted and comfortable, but these can become the very things that entrap, keeping us in a holding position, that stunts emotional and spiritual growth. 

⁉️Dear reader, what are you willing to give up in order to freely live the will of God? 

My most bold statement and moment in life, was my declaration: I love Jesus more than anyone and anything. These words strung together were nails in my marriage coffin, and I do not regret this statement, and it continues to be my refrain. While I loved my husband, and I love my son, and I love family, friends, my home, my employment, I state boldly once again, I love Jesus more than all people, places and things. In fact, I do believe I gave up all my attachment to earthly items and humans because let us face the facts together, dear one: things and people come and go, whether via rot, rust or breakage ... and I mean this for both inanimate objects and relationships too. We can get so attached that it may feel as though we are dying if someone leaves willingly, or when the hand of God beckons and irresistibly, a spirit leaves the body. 

There are some relationships that are rich beyond measure that I treasure. I can cast a glance in the direction of others that know me so well, words are not necessary: they feel what I am silently expressing. I have people in my life that I can talk to, spend endless time with, and come away feeling loved and enlivened too. I know the difference between feeling drained, verses being soulfully enhanced, after being with different people. In my youth I was fool enough to believe that seeing potential in another meant somehow I could help them actualize ... as I near sixty, I gratefully know I can change no one, but I sure can change the atmosphere around me!

⁉️What is conducive to your emotional and spiritual growth, that will give you the freedom to live the will of God? 

Figuring out what must stay, what must go; deciding who we spend our time with, for how long, and why. These are helpful places to start, if you are sorting through the big questions of how to live a godly life with Jesus as the one you love more than anything and anyone. WARNING: once you start down this path, it will become painfully obvious, that the self and other established roadblocks to living as a saint, will be challenging to remove, and you may be resistant to significant change. This is when you must rely heavily, not on your own understanding, but God's strength and wisdom to direct your steps:

Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths

You have this one life, in this one body housing your spirit. If your work is torture-some, and you are a slave to your employer, then something is seriously amiss. You may make the mark and eventually be retired, or put out to pasture in two years, but will you have vital health to enjoy what is left of your days, while here on planet earth?

The love of money, or belief that it is our security, is dangerous for the soul. Money can't hold your hand when you are dying. Money can't buy back your mental well-being. Money can't keep you from becoming sick, old, and frail. Money can, however, pay for your cremation, urn, or coffin, and a burial plot with your name engraved on a carved stone ... and maybe some flowers to suggest that you are fondly thought of, loved, and missed.

Yup, money can't buy me love (as the song goes), but it can, apparently, buy sex ... empty exchanges make space for a void in the soul.

I will end here, so you can contemplate the meaning of life, and what you are willing to consider changing, in order to prioritize your relationship with God, over earthly, worldly items, endeavours, and pleasures, that lose their shine and significance, shortly after they are acquired and experienced. 

Philippians 1:21

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain

PS: Read The Bible