I think it was C.S. Lewis who once wrote something to this effect, “Never count on ultimate happiness from something that can be taken away.”  I’m sorry I don’t have that exact and that I do not have the source but the truth remains nevertheless.  He, (or whoever said that) didn’t mean we couldn’t enjoy things in this life.  “God has given us richly all things to enjoy” (1 Tim. 6:17).  What he meant was that ultimate happiness comes from being held by the Giver of gifts rather than holding too tightly to the gifts!  We simply hold some things too tightly for our good and when they are gone, we are devastated.  This is the struggle with material things, they have such allure but like a mirage, they are not what we really want or need deep down in the recesses of our being.  I won’t be talking about this on Sunday but this was the case with the high priest Caiaphas.  He didn’t want the Messiah to come because it would unseat him from his place of power and profit.  Imagine clutching a position/title so tightly that you wouldn’t even want Jesus to have it!  It is really hard to loosen our grip on various things of this life.  It’s not always material things, some people don’t care about stuff at all.  There are other things we hold too tightly; inappropriate relationships, secret practices, personal desires, positions or titles etc.  Personally, I enjoy a lot of things in life.  I enjoy family, friends, solitude, books, guitars, guns, hunting, fishing, gardening, exercise and even my work (most of the time ).  But, all those things are passing away because they are fragile.  I think this is why Paul wrote, “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain.”  Christ is the one possession that cannot be taken away.  Nothing can separate us from His love and when we die, we’ll finally have a more complete realization of Him.  We can’t hold onto Jesus too tightly but we really should loosen our grip on everything else.  Jesus was smart and He said, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  That wasn’t a rebuke for enjoying your super-large flat screen TV.  It was a reminder that to count on it for ultimate happiness is silly.  Ultimate happiness comes from being held by the Giver rather than holding His gifts too tightly.