Charles Swindoll wrote about men who bring in animals from Africa for American zoos.

They say that one of the hardest animals to catch there is the ring-tailed lemur.

For the Zulus of that continent, however, it’s simple. They’ve been catching this agile little animal with ease for years.

The method the Zulus use is based on knowledge of the animal.

Their trap is nothing more than a melon growing on a vine. The seeds of this melon are a favorite of the lemur.

Knowing this, the Zulus simply cut a hole in the melon, just large enough for the animal to insert his hand to reach the seeds inside. The lemur will stick his hand in, grab as many seeds as he can, then start to withdraw it. This he cannot do. His fist is now larger than the hole.

The animal will pull and tug, screech and fight the melon for hours. But he can’t get free of the trap unless he gives up the seeds, which he refuses to do.

Meanwhile, the Zulus sneak up and nab him.

There’s a pretty clear moral to this story.

If we really want to be free, we must let go of the things we love.

The more we hold on to our earthly possessions, the more frustrated we will get and eventually, we will be entrapped.

Let’s let go of the worldly things we’ve been holding on to. God has much greater things for us to be doing than sitting here with our fists in a melon!

–by George Whitten