A year or two ago my friend Linda's cat escaped. It was cold and rainy, and that cat would not come home. Not for three days! The cat wasn't exactly lost; Linda knew where it was—a good 20 feet up a tree right outside the back of the house. But that little critter would not come down. So another friend named Jim took a long extension ladder over to help, and he called me for my unique expertise—ladder-holding in the rain. That cat probably hadn't eaten in three days. It was cold and scared, but when Jim finally got up there, that cat was not glad to see him. It was downright hostile. In fact, the only way Jim got the cat down was to put a towel over its head and pry its claws out of the tree. Jim did all the rescuing. All the cat did was finally let go of the tree.

Salvation is often a lot like that—it is when we finally let go. None of us can look to Jesus, remembering our rescue, and say, "We made a good team, didn't we!"