Hold Tight

A few years back, when my youngest child was kindergarten or first grade age, my children and I memorized Romans 12.  Verse 9 of that chapters says, "Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good."  He wasn't entirely sure what cling meant, so I explained it was to hold on really tight to something or someone.  He grabbed hold of me and asked if I that was what I meant.  I agreed that he was indeed clinging to me.  Thus, whenever we reviewed that chapter, when it got to that verse, he would hop up from his chair and come and grab on to me while saying, "Cling to what is good."

That image, being dear to me, is one of the things I thought of when I heard the lyrics to a song called "Cling to You."  This song is by a no-doubt up-and-coming songwriter named Allen Brantley, a former member of Acappella and member of my church.  Out of respect to the copyright of his yet-unpublished work, I won't include all the lyrics here. But read this short portion:

Take away my pain;
Blot out this guilty stain,
Lord, to You I cling.

I, amidst the darkness, still cling to You.

That memory of my little one grabbing tight around my neck while saying, "Hate what is evil; cling to what is good," remains vivid in my mind. And though I'm so easily beset by sin, though I may be feeling lost in the darkness, I can choose to demonstrate love. I can hate what is evil, and I can cling to the only Good for the protection and grace and mercy that I need.