SAND IN THE ENGINE

"Let us strip off anything that slows us down or holds us back, and especially those sins that wrap themselves so tightly around our feet and trap us up; and let us run with patience the particular race that God has set before us" Hebrews 12:1 (LB).

The race was about to start. Tension hung heavy in the air. Excitement grew as the starting moment crept closer. Speculation was rampant. Then disappointment settled over the grandstand like a thick fog. Minutes before the guns signalled the start of the long-awaited race, a popular driver withdrew, stating, "I won't be able to run this year. There's sand in my engine."

Many times in our Christian walk we begrudgingly recognize that we have been falling behind in life's spiritual race. Our "spiritual engine" isn't running smoothly. Our foe, Satan himself, has put sand in our engine in the form of a hasty word, a thoughtless deed, neglect of prayer, meditation and Bible reading. We indulge in unkind thoughts. Snide comments. Criticism. And, yes, gossip.

Although ever so small, such things, like grains of sands, can be damaging to our spiritual life.

The good news is that we can remove the sand from the engine by making an appropriate apology when necessary, by asking forgivenness if needed, and by prayer. And we can once again participate confidently in our spiritual race.

Is there any sand in YOUR engine? There's no better time than the New Year to take spiritual inventory.

Preacher's Kid