Before her scheduled execution in ANH, Grand Moff Tarkin wanted Princess Leia to be his guest to see the Death Star’s full destructive power.
Unconvinced, Leia tells him, “The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers.”
Like Tarkin, people today tend to believe that they can keep what they have by holding onto it more tightly.
James 4:4 chastises his audience by saying, “You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”
We should learn from that, let go of our past, sinful self, and openly accept Jesus with our arms open and hands empty. That way, we can cling to Him.
Tarkin and others try to cling to power, position, and prestige, not realizing that the tighter they hold onto something, the less they can receive.
Lest we think those three Ps are the only thing people try to hold on to, we know people fear losing their freedom, losing close relationships, losing their health, losing their reputation, losing material wealth/things or a lifestyle.
Romans 8:15 tells believers in Jesus that we “did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!'”
When we can, therefore, let go and open our hands and our heart, we can receive more from God, our Heavenly Father.
James 1:17 informs us that “every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”
