My morning run was interrupted mid-stride with a view that sent a twinge of sadness through my heart.
Blood stained the pavement. Flesh was ripped apart. A little chipmunk, bloody and battered, lay motionless on the roadside. As I bent down to pick him up and move him to a more peaceful resting place, my gaze was directed to his tiny paws. There he was, lying dead, with a crushed acorn against his crushed chest. He was still holding onto his treasure.
I resumed my run, but not my thoughts. I couldn't get the picture of that acorn-holding chipmunk out of my head. I wondered: had he been willing to let go of his perceived treasure, would he have made it to safety? Ashley, you are that chipmunk. What? Me? A chipmunk? Yes, me. Us. Chipmunks. How many times do we hold onto things, thinking they will do us good, thinking we are better off with them firmly in grasp, only to find out that they are the death of us. The devil whispers, "I know you're trying to run this race, this battle for life, but doesn't this acorn look good?" And when we needlessly burden ourselves, clinging to earthly treasures, the devil laughs to drive headlong into us, leaving us bruised and battered by the side of the road.
"Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."
Hebrews 12:1-2
