Drop The Banana

  Let me tell you a little story….In a remote village, long ago and very far away, some hunters set out to capture a monkey. Monkeys, however, are very intelligent creatures, who not only sorta’ look like humans but even think like us. So to capture one of them, you have to use a creative approach. In one end of a coconut, the village hunters drilled a hole large enough to put a banana in. Then they fastened the coconut to a tree.  Soon a smart (or not so smart) little monkey came along and, smelling the banana inside the coconut, reached into the hole to grab the fruit. But then the monkey was caught in a dilemma. It could not withdraw its fist while holding onto the banana. It could drop the banana and escape but he chooses instead to hold on to the banana and be trapped.

  Not many of us need or want to catch monkeys. So, what’s the point? Just like the monkey holds on to the banana, sometimes we cling to our religious beliefs, feelings, or legalistic behaviors that prevent us from being set free and walking in the freedom Christ died to give us.  It’s easy to see that the monkey should just let go of the banana, but it’s not so easy to see what we need to release. Drop the banana!

  “If you cling to something as absolute truth and are caught in it, when Truth comes in person and knocks on your door, you will refuse to let Him in.”

  Sometimes our banana is our past. We want to walk in freedom but we just refuse to drop the banana, let go of the past that holds us trapped. We can’t walk in freedom if we keep our hand in the coconut of our past holding on to the banana of every hurt, pain, rejection, disappointment we’ve ever went through.  Drop the banana!

  Sometimes our banana is un-forgiveness. Forgiveness seems like such a simple thing. Of course I can forgive…if I want to. But so many times we’d rather hold on to the banana of anger, resentment, and hurt feelings rather than just let go and forgive.

  Forgiveness is letting go of our self-attachment to a situation, our hurt feelings. It is an ultimate act of selflessness, moving beyond our wounded pride and letting go of the banana. Forgiveness is in fact one of the greatest processes exemplified by Christ in the Christian tradition. Jesus was able to walk through His tragic persecution and crucifixion without wavering in His God-connectedness, without holding on to blame or resentment, leaving this physical earth with forgiveness on His lips. His ability to forgive was a major step toward our being forgiven and able to forgive those who ‘persecute’ us.

  Drop the bananas that are holding you trapped and walk away free in Jesus name!

In His love,
Elizabeth