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Hold On To Me

“If you’ll hold on to me for dear life,” says God,
    “I’ll get you out of any trouble.
I’ll give you the best of care
    if you’ll only get to know and trust me.
Call me and I’ll answer, be at your side in bad times;
    I’ll rescue you, then throw you a party.
I’ll give you a long life,
    give you a long drink of salvation!”

(Psalms 91:14-16 MESSAGE)

Once we have found Jesus, why would we ever let Him go? In my walk with God, I have seen many born again Christians not hold on to "the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6). No matter how loud He cries "hold on to me" they leave, and trample on His blood, insult and disdain the Holy Ghost, and suffer punishment for their deeds:

For anyone who refused to obey the law of Moses was put to death without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Just think how much worse the punishment will be for those who have trampled on the Son of God, and have treated the blood of the covenant, which made us holy, as if it were common and unholy, and have insulted and disdained the Holy Spirit who brings God’s mercy to us (Hebrews 10:28-29 NLT).

Holding on to other gods instead of Jesus

Jesus says "hold on to me", but how many times do we hold onto other gods in our life instead? That is the story of the Old Testament. The Israelites held on to and worshiped other gods instead of the Lord:

And it shall be answered, Because they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshiped them, and served them: therefore hath he brought all this evil upon them (2 Chronicles 7:22 ).

How do we make application to this admonishment today? For example, the Bible clearly says not to forsake going to church, especially in the end times, exactly where we are in the 21st century:

Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching (Hebrews 10:25).

How many times have we said "Oh, I can't go to church today, I have got to:

go to or watch the game
exercise
go fishing
clean the house
sleep in
whatever, fill in the blank"

What happens when we do this? Jesus is readily moved to second place, as these activities become our gods that we worship in place of Jesus. We don't say it, but in fact, we get a better offer at that moment. Sad but true! "Hold on to me" becomes inconvenient. The cross and what Jesus did for us becomes inconvenient.

How many times do we skip our daily prayer, Bible reading or devotion because we have another god to serve? Once we start skipping church, prayer, reading the Bible or daily devotion, it opens the door for unclean spirit(s) (like alcohol, drugs, fornication, adultery, cheating, lying, hubris, etc.) to fill the void and take hold on our lives. That is why Jesus said:

When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house swept and put in order. Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there. And the last state of that person is worse than the first" (Luke 11:24-26 ESV).

The Apostle Paul wrote about Christians in this condition:

They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work (Titus 1:16).

But no matter how bad it gets, how bad we mess up, the opportunity will always be there to repent of our sins:

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

We must always embrace and respond to the cry of Jesus "hold on to me for dear life", as eternity depends on it:

Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have declared so well before many witnesses (1 Timothy 6:12 NLT).