Consider that attachment

Back in the day, doctors used these sucking, slimy predatory worm (AKA a leech) to remove infection from the body and to hopefully improve the condition they were treating. We don't use them very often any longer, but they still have their purposes in some cultures in the treatment of disease. In the simplest terms, a leech is something or someone who "clings" to another for the personal gain that will come as a result of having made that attachment! In the blood-letting process of the past, the leech took the blood, but really "gave" very little in return - although by 'taking' they were supposedly 'giving back'. I suppose you might think they "gave" back the health to the one who used them, but really if you consider their actions, they were in it for what they could 'gain', not what they could 'give'.

A leech has twin daughters named "Gimme" and "Gimme more." (Proverbs 30:15 The Message)

The problem with leeches is they are never fully satisfied! Even when they are fully engorged, they want more. The littlest taste of blood drives them on to get even more of that taste! The fact is, the beginning of the process of "attachment" is really the initiation of a series of events which occur. There is first the attachment - until connection is made, they are pretty harmless, swimming or crawling around almost totally unnoticed. It isn't until they insert three razor sharp "blades" into their host - cutting their way into their flesh - that they are notices. The attachment seems pretty harmless, until you begin to feel the impression of their progressive "cutting". As a final act to ensure their host actually provides them the much hoped for feast of blood, the little blood-sucking critters secretes a form of an anticoagulant (a blood thinner) into the wound, ensuring that their host "bleeds" as much as possible before they have to detach from their host.

While this was a little graphic, I hope it has some significance for us in looking those around us who may have a leeching effect in our lives. We might just find ourselves dealing with leeches at times - those individuals who attach themselves to us for the personal gain the connection in our lives can produce. Remember...the leech is nothing apart from a host to feed upon. In time, they will die without the "life-blood" they so desire. In the most literal sense, we'd call this kind of "friend" or "association" a parasitic relationship! They take with no real intention of giving back! If we have a whole lot of these kinds of friends, we find ourselves pretty "weakened" by their demand for more and more! We might endure one or two, but if we never have anyone else "giving into" our lives, we will feel pretty drained.

They don't travel alone, though! There are "twin daughters" - Gimme and Gimme More! The effect of these "twins" on us is that they exhaust our resources! Remember what I told you about the leech - it actually has a way of "controlling" the flow of the blood - by making the person's blood thinner. Our body's natural defense is to send "clotting" agents to the site of bleeding - while this little creature goes to work dissolving those clotting agents with the chemical it uses to "thin out" the blood. Little Miss Gimme and Gimme More are just as greedy as greedy can be! Lest you think I have been surrounded by a whole group of blood-sucking leeches who are exhausting my resources, let me set your mind at ease. Over the years, I have learned some valuable lessons about relationships that seem to be "higher maintenance" than others. I have to "pace" myself in dealing with these individuals - otherwise they would "suck me dry". I also have had to learn when it is time to let go of these relationships - sometimes much later than I should have!

We all deal with some form leeches in our lives. Things that just seem to "attach" and then serve to do nothing more than suck the very life from us can be viewed as 'leeching' from our lives. We might call these things habits or even addictions. No addiction comes alone - it has "twin daughters" named Gimme and Gimme More! At first, the habit seemed harmless. In time, you notice the little "sucker of life" seems to have more than one place of attachment in your life - by then, the habit is more of an addiction and you are being sucked dry! There have been times when I have had to ask God to "break the connection" of these "leeches" because their attachment was so strong - I just couldn't get away from the habit myself! How do we ever avoid their attachment? Well, one thing I know for sure - if we don't swim in the "murky waters" in the first place, we can avoid their breeding ground! If we think we can "dabble" in sin without any "attachment" of harmful stuff, we are sadly deluded. Swim in the "muck and mire" long enough, and you will find yourself with all kinds of "leeching" attachments! Just thinkin!