What’s holding you back?

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Sanctification”

Our Bible verse for today: “But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:13-14 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “What’s holding you back?”

If my illustration this morning seems a little crude, please pardon me and make allowances for an old sailor. Many decades ago, when I was a young sailor serving my first enlistment in the U.S. Navy, I heard a somewhat colorful response to a situation that I found both convicting and motivating. It was a challenge that was sometimes said to those guys who were always talking about what they were going to do, but never actually doing it. It was, “Well, I don’t see an anchor tied to your rear-end. What’s holding you back?” (The actual language was a little more colorful. We were sailors, after all).

But the point is well-taken. What is holding you back from doing the thing you know you should do, and you need to do, but which so far, you’re just talking about?

In yesterday’s devotional I urged us all not to waste any of the years of our lives. Unfortunately, many of us do waste precious time by thinking about what we’re gong to do, talking about what we’re going to do, but then making excuses instead of actually doing it.

Once we begin procrastinating and making excuses it becomes a pattern that is increasingly hard to break free from. Sometimes we will feel guilty about it, and we regret the lost time and the wasted opportunities. But we can get mired in that regret as well, and that too can become like an anchor or, to shift metaphors, like quicksand sucking us down and holding us back.

The Apostle Paul allowed for none of that in his life. Instead, he shrugged off the past, cut the tether to the anchor, and kept moving forward. That’s the result that progressive sanctification should be having in our lives. It should be the thing that keeps us moving forward. This is why we intentionally do our part by engaging in the daily spiritual disciplines that place us in a position before the Holy Spirit whereby He can mold us, transform us, and keep us moving forward. If we are growing spiritually and therefore being transformed, we will not be standing still and making excuses.

If you are feeling stuck in the mud in life, or perhaps, feeling as if there is something acting as an anchor holding you back, the solution is to ramp up the practice of your faith. If you do your part, the Holy Spirit will break you free and move you forward in life.

What’s holding you back? The answer should be, “Nothing. Nothing is holding me back. I’m moving forward.”

God bless,
Pastor Jim

(If you like what you’re reading in these daily devotionals, and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00, in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

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