“…throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.” (Hebrews 12:1)
“Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.” (Romans 6:12)
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)
I was walking my dog around the block the other day when he spotted another dog across the street. The next minute or so of my life could have been a viral video on YouTube. My dog ran around me and between my legs and around a light post weaving a web with the leash that turned my “walk” with the dog to a “stop” with the dog. Once the other dog passed and I got my legs free we were back in business.
Sometimes we can be walking along our spiritual journey and something on the other side of the street gets our attention and suddenly we are tangled up and things come to a screeching halt. That is what sin can do in our lives. The Bible tells us that sin can cause havoc in our life and rob us of the blessings that God intends for us to enjoy. Unfortunately, it also says that sin is something that we all struggle with. Another fact of life is there will always be another dog walking on the other side of the street. The question is how do we handle it.
The Scriptures call the other dog “temptation”. What we do when we see it determines if it becomes sin or not. One thing for sure…you can’t keep another dog from walking on the other side of the street. Our goal is to stay on our side of the street and to keep moving forward on our path. For my dog, it will take some training and, soon (I hope) he will develop some disciplines that allow him to remain focused and on the task at hand…walking forward.
For us, as followers of Jesus, we will need to develop disciplines in our lives that keep us out of trouble. It starts with keeping our eyes on Jesus but also requires us to identify and deal with the sin that “so easily” trips us up. The Scripture does give us some direction in this area. In the verse from First John (above) we are told that we can continually go to the Lord and confess our sins and He forgives us. In other words, we all get tangled up every once in a while. When we do, God is there to hear our cry for forgiveness…help us get untangled…brush us off…and get us back on the right path.
Today, are you stopped on your spiritual journey tangled up in the leash of sin. Come to the Lord and confess it and He will get you back moving again.