Have you ever experienced a toddler’s birthday party? There’s that one child who arrives with a death grip on his “gift” as mom tries to coax it out of his hands. It’s his now, and there’s no way he’s laying that thing down. He was entrusted to carry it, and he likes it. Oh, he will let it go, eventually. But, prying it out is sure to hurt a lot more than if he had just “put the thing down!” willingly.Aren’t we the same way? The Holy Spirit gives us that gentle nudge, and we bristle a little. He nudges a little harder. We all have something, maybe several things, that God’s asked us to lay down so that He can open us up for something else, something better. Perhaps it was meant to be ours for a season, or like the toddler’s present, never really ours in the first place. We think it fits; it's comfortable; so our fists remain relentlessly clenched…around that relationship…that job…that unhealthy habit.Whatever it is, know that if God is asking you to lay it down, it is not to deprive you of what is good—it is to bless you with what is far better.