21 Days in the Gospel of John With Levi Lusko Sample

Spiritual Super Glue

No one enjoys being stuck. Driving in the winter up a steep icy road, you go off the shoulder and find your wheels spinning. You're stuck. Writing a story or song and you can't get over the writer's block. Stuck. Or in your job—you just can't seem to advance; you're not getting anywhere but you have no other options. Stuck. None of these are enjoyable, but how much worse to be stuck spiritually. Without Christ in our lives, we are glued to our sin and completely unable to move. Even as Christians, we can identify with Paul's sticky struggle with sin: "I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it… I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway" (Romans 7:15,19 NLT). Obviously unbelievers aren't the only ones who suffer from the stickiness of sin. "Many believed in Him, but… they did not confess Him… for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God." These believers couldn’t bear to part with their positions; they loved the respect, admiration, and attention of other people. It was an issue of ego—they were consumed with what other people thought about them. As it is so often with us. Proverbs 29:25 says, "The fear of man brings a snare." One of the definitions of snare is: "something that entangles the unwary." John tells us that these snares boil down to three categories: lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (1 John 2:16). All of these are like glue traps. There are two solutions:

1. Recognize and ditch anything slowing you down. “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”( Hebrews 12:1-2).
2. If a snare entangles the unwary—keep your guard up! Don't be oblivious. "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

The enemy has all sorts of tricks up his sleeve. If he can’t get your heart so hardened that it rejects Christ, he will settle for crippling your effectiveness as a Christian. But we have a great incentive to live publicly for Him—His imminent return. What do you want to be doing when He comes back? 

Remember: The fear of man brings a snare. Keep your guard up.