Devotional for Tuesday, January 31, 2017
“Beware of the Entanglement of Sin”
Yesterday I shared a wonderful quote with you, and I will share again.
“Ships do not sink because of the water around them;
ships sink because of the water that gets in them.
Do not let what is happening around you
get inside you and weigh you down.”
Along with this quote we looked at Hebrews 12:1. Let us look at this scripture again but today we will look at how sin can so easily and cleverly entangle us.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses who by faith have testified to the truth of God’s absolute faithfulness, stripping off every unnecessary weight and the sin which so easily and cleverly entangles us, let us run with endurance and active persistence the race that is set before us,”
While we looked yesterday at how unnecessary weight can hinder us, that weight can actually be the “water in our ship”. Today we see that there are sins that can cause us to be entangled. I found some interesting definitions of what it means to be entangled. They were:
to involve in difficulties,
to confuse or perplex.
One time I saw the most touching video of a deer that was tangled up in netting in the woods, and it laid helplessly. It frantically and fearfully was trying to escape the trap it as in. There were some men that wanted to help it and as they approached it, the deer began to panic. They spoke softly to it, and it soon seemed to understand that they were trying to help. They carefully cut away that which was entangling the deer and the deer went free.
We must be careful to be diligent and watchful over our souls that there is not a sin that is cleverly trying to put us in a position in which the enemy can entangle us and consume us. As we watch over our hearts and minds through prayer and fellowship with our Lord, He will help us to discern those clever attempts that the evil one tries to deceive us with. Let us run with endurance and active persistence that race that is set before us in Jesus Name!