Day 23 - Entanglements

Lord Jesus Christ, speak to me.

No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. 2 Timothy 2:4

I’m going to be short and sweet today. Two things about the verse above jump out at me, and the two are connected. First, the idea of being “entangled” in the affairs of the world. And second, that our goal in life should be “that we may please him.” As Christ-followers, we are freed to live to an audience of one! We don’t have to live to please ourselves or anybody else. We live to please God. He has enlisted us. He has called us. He is our audience. As we engage in life, we can do so with an eye for HIS approval. The temptation will be for us to entangle ourselves in the affairs of this world – things that demand our attention and attempt to take us from our singular focus of pleasing God. We would do well to take a couple of minutes today for self-examination. Ask yourself, “Is there some ‘affairs of this world’ that are distracting me from pleasing God?” Are there some things that I need to take the time to untangle myself from in order that I might better focus my attention on pleasing God? These things that entangle us are not necessarily bad things. Sometimes they are bad or sinful. But a lot of times, they are simply good or neutral things that are the enemy of doing what is best – pleasing God.

Take a few minutes this morning to examine your life. If you come up with something that is entangling you, consider how you can correct that. and then, if you’re really bold, post a comment to this blog about what is entangling you so others can either pray for you or be encouraged to guard against being entangled by that as well.