The principle of cleaving

Uni-verse 179/10,000 Deuteronomy 4 v 4 For better through verse
Deu 4:4 But ye that did cleave unto the LORD your God are alive every one of you this day.


In the context of marriage, a wife is instructed to leave her family and to cleave to her husband. Similarly, we must leave the world of our anxieties, fears, doubts, hopes, dreams and ambitions and cleave to the Lord. "To cleave" means to be devoted to, to cling to, to be attached to, to depend upon. The best image of cleaving perhaps is that of a baby monkey clinging to the underside of the mother. Everything in that baby's monkey is upside down but it trusts the mother enough to cling to her for dear life even as she negotiates dangerous leaps and jumps or climbs to great heights. Similarly, we must cling to the Lord even though everything today might seem upside down, not the way we would like it to be. We must be grateful that our Lord allows us to cling to Him in this manner. What if He disowned us and distanced Himself from us? Would we have the privilege to cling to Him? The baby monkey knew instinctively that its mother was competent enough and loving enough to see it safely through life. It is certain that it would land safely on the other side. We, too must believe that our God is competent enough and loving enough to see us through the ups and downs of life as we cling to Him. Those of the ancient Israelites who clung to God remained alive through the long walk in the wilderness to the Promised Land.

Cleaving to the Lord our God means that we must cleave to His Word and cleave to the Holy Spirit. We must cleave to His Name and His promises. We must cleave to a lifestyle marked by prayer, fellowship, worship and witness. Cleaving to His Word means we hold on to scripture. We must never forget what He has spoken to us in times past and what He has spoken to us now. These are the words of eternal life, a guarantee of salvation in all matters spiritual, physical, emotional, financial, relational, professional and temporal. Cleaving to the Holy Spirit means we must constantly rejoice in His presence, listen to His still voice and stirrings of our spirit. Cleaving to His Name and His promises means claiming our inheritance in Christ Jesus. Cleaving to our walk with God means enjoying our quiet times with God, setting aside regular and multiple times of meeting with God as one would seek out a lover. It means relishing times spent with other believers in fellowship and worship. It means loosing no opportunity to share the love of God with others who do not believe that they too can cleave to Him.

When we cleave to God in this manner, we will not only be alive but we will be fully alive. We will live out the God- intended full length of our days and our years. We will live life to the hilt of the Sword of God- the Word and experience of the bliss of communion with God. We will find God's purpose for our lives and receive power to fulfill that purpose. While we are cleaving to God, we will also have fun even as the baby monkey feels the thrill and excitement of the upswings and downswings of the mother's torso. Just as the baby monkey hears the heartbeat of its mother, we must cling to God so close we hear His heart beat as it were.

Prateep V Philip