Free From Spiritual Snags

Getting snagged on something is at the least no fun. Snagging my pants on a weight bench spurred a spiritual analogy. I had just watched a video on social media in which Tom Cruise was talking about riding a motorcycle off of a ski jump at which point he and the bike separate. He had a few seconds to pull the parachute before hitting the bottom of a ravine. When it comes to acting and stunts, the man is a phenom. He said that the key was to have nothing connected to the bike. It would plummet into the ravine along with anything attached to it. If anything snagged him to the bike, he would be dead. Even his shoelaces were taped down for the stunt.

So this begs the question, should we be any less diligent with eternal things? Have we become sloppy with the things that really matter? Have we allowed ourselves to become attached to something – a sin, a way of thinking, spiritual laziness, false doctrine – that is destined for destruction? It may feel comfortable now. People might even applaud us as we plummet. But if Scripture reveals it as something to be avoided, we don’t want even a shoelace wrapped up in it. The Bible is full of examples and warnings, but one to give us hope and keep us free is Hebrews 12:1-2,

“Therefore we also,

since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,

let us lay aside every weight,

and the sin which so easily ensnares us,

and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

looking unto Jesus,

the author and finisher of our faith,

who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross,

despising the shame,

and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”