Easily Entangled

I guess I've never noticed just how quickly a vine can grow. I was recently given a bike, which I was pretty pumped about. While I have never riden much, I looked forward to making time to ride. The Friday before last, I was privileged to go on a bike ride with my friends on campus. We had great fun, and it felt really good to put the bike to use and simultaneously feel the sun and wind in my face. After the ride, I propped the bike up against the front of my apartment, looking forward to the next time I would go for a ride. That was 10 days ago.

This afternoon, I decided to go riding around my neighborhood. I knew there are several large hills nearby, but I was geared up and ready for the challenge. I went to get the bike when I noticed that it was stuck. Vines had spiraled their way around several of the spokes on the back wheel. It wasn't just looped around a couple of times. When I say "spiraled", I mean it. I'm talking the whole length of the spokes and then some. I couldn't believe it. It had only been a mere 10 days that the bike had been in that position. You would have thought it had been there for months.

The thought then came to me: "That's exactly what sin does, and then some." I can be chilling, waiting on the next big adventure, when the small, seemingly insignificant sins around me can, in no time, choke the life out of me. It may first start to grab hold of a thought (a spoke...no big deal, right? Wrong!), but the thoughts turn into to words and actions.

This teaches me two things:
1. Plead to the Father to grant grace that kills sin when it is first noticed. How imperative it is to not get comfortable with sin! It must die, and it must die quickly. If it doesn't, it will give birth to death.
2. Don't be lazy under the guise of relaxation. This practically invites sin in. I may not feel like this is the most exciting or adventurous time in my life, but that gives no room for idleness. Even when I feel like life is mundane (which is, I'm learning, never really the case), I should be making myself busy about His business. For He is always working in my heart; I'm just not always paying attention to the things He is doing. Instead of relaxation, why not pursue a greater knowledge of Him? Since I'm free from projects and exams for the next month, why not dig deeply into the Word each day? Since I'm not currently bound to memorizing muscle and joint patterns, why not meditate on Scripture?

When I'm lazy, I give way to sin. Seeing that vine wound so tightly around the spokes of my bike reminded me of how tightly sin can grab hold of and so subtly choke me. Father, I ask for Your grace that allows me to see the sin in my life. May I heed Your Word and take every thought captive, making every effort to kill sin before it kills me.