Holding back!

Theme: “Holding back!”
Text: 1 Thess. 5:21, “But test everything; hold fast to what is good,”
Intro:- As I was visiting in the hospital, I saw a word which I found out meant ‘holding back’. It started me thinking about what we mean when we hold back.

1.Hold back- in the negative sense of being against something or someone. Proverbs tells us to hold back our anger. “Don’t let the sun go down on your anger.” It also refers to our criticism of others. When Jesus was talking to the
woman at the well, and she questioned Jesus about the Samaritans who were often despised by the Jews. Jesus held back. When the disciples had no time for the children, Jesus told them to hold back - “Let the children come unto me!”

2. Holding back in a positive sense!
Abraham did not hold back his first-born son Isaac from a sacrifice, because it turned out to in fact be a test. God wanted his obedience. This leads us to John 3:16, “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son.” God did not hold back.
This thought is enshrined in Scripture and illustrated in Communion- his body and blood. God did not hold back but calls us to follow and believe in His example.

3. Holding back from God!
Now I believe we should turn the phrase around. If God has done so much for us through His Son, we should not hold back from him but believe! This can be done in many ways supporting one another in worship, prayer, and fellowship.
Don’t hold back in your prayers. Don’t hold back the love, compassion and kindness that God has shown to us. Don’t hold back your wherewithal, remember the widow's mite. She gave all she had! Children and Churches in the Arctic and overseas are in need.

There is a lot to be learnt from the phrase ‘holding back!