Good Morning Eternal Children of God! AMEN! We wrapped up 1 John
with the reminder that God is life and eternal life is found only in Jesus. John wrote this letter to assure the new generation of believers of their promised eternity and to remind them that God is Light, Love and Life and He wants to bring His Light and love alive through us. He also wrote to battle some false prophets and to help the church turn off that noise and focus on Truth and Life in Christ. Check out TWFYT below and how it ties to this word. I love when God does that! And then there's the ODB reminder that we can throw off all that entangles us and keeps us from God's best and learn to run our races well with Christ.
God loves you, made a way for eternity with Him and a way to forgiveness. We just have to choose to open these free gifts, repent, renew our thinking and pursue Jesus as we run our races until we are called home. And when we are what joy we will find in God's Light, love, life and presence! Amen!
TWFYT
ODB:
Entangled
Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. Hebrews 12:1
Watermelon vines had overtaken my garden. They snaked across the stone path, climbed the fence, and—worst of all—tried to choke my favorite vegetable plants. I knew the garden wouldn’t thrive unless I took action. So, one evening I went to work uncurling tendrils from stems and leaves. When the coils grew back, I kept removing them until the vegetable plants finally matured and produced plump tomatoes and shiny peppers.
Sins like greed, lust, and hate can overtake our lives like the vines that tried to dominate my garden. Left untended, the seed of a wrong thought may develop until it controls our desires and actions like a “sin that so easily entangles” (Hebrews 12:1) and holds us back from growing spiritually.
The writer of Hebrews encourages us to “throw off everything that hinders” so that we can “run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (v. 1). To break free requires that we acknowledge we need help to handle the sin. This can be difficult if we’ve convinced ourselves and others that it’s not a serious issue.
Once we sincerely admit the problem, Jesus welcomes our prayers of confession and forgives us immediately (1 John 1:9). He can show us how to change our life patterns and, through the power of the Holy Spirit, help us to overcome the bondage that prevents us from flourishing.
By Jennifer Benson Schuldt
REFLECT & PRAY
What sin has the power to make you fall repeatedly? How does God want you to address this problem?
Dear God, please forgive me for the actions and attitudes that grieve You and help me change from this point forward.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
The original audience of the letter to the Hebrews was Jewish believers in Jesus who may have considered reverting back to Judaism or were straying toward false teachings (see 2:1-4; 3:1-4). Many scholars believe the book was written before the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in ad 70 because it includes references to Jewish ceremonies and sacrifices. The author understood that the readers would need perseverance to face trials and persecution. Hebrews encourages believers to endure and hold fast to Christ (2:1-4; 3:7–4:13; 5:11–6:2). In chapter 11, known as the “Hall of Faith,” the author commends the many men and women of the Bible who lived by faith and sometimes died because of it. Therefore, because of their witness and example, believers in Christ are prompted to “throw off everything that hinders”—including sin—and “run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (12:1).
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