Read: Hebrews 12:1-3

"Savannah, I’m leaving for work,” Mom said. “Be sure to set the house alarm when your bus gets here.”

When the bus arrived, Savannah set the alarm and started to dash out the door when…WHOOSH! Her favorite sweater, which had sleeves that were too long and too loose, caught on the door handle, holding her captive. When she finally got free and jumped on the bus, the kids laughed and asked, “What took you so long?”

At least I remembered to set the alarm this time, Savannah thought. The alarm had been installed for extra security, and whoever arrived home first had thirty seconds to disable it by entering a secret code, otherwise it would start blaring. It was directly connected to the local police department, and the officers weren’t amused when Savannah accidentally set it off…twice.

That day after school, Savannah opened the door and heard the thirty-second warning start. Beep, beep, beep! She rushed to disable the alarm when, BAM! She was knocked flat on her back. It was her sweater again, caught on a chair.

Beep, beep, beep! Unable to get free, Savannah wiggled out of the sweater just as the alarm started to blare ferociously. She sheepishly walked out to the porch to wait for the police car.

“Hello, Officer Hamlin. I’m sorry,” she said when the policeman arrived. She explained how her sweater had snared her.

Later that evening, Mom laughed as Savannah told her about the day’s events. “Savannah, do you remember what verse we talked about at church last Sunday?”

“Not really,” Savannah admitted.

“Hebrews 12:1. It’s about laying aside the sins that so easily snare us. In other words, we have to deal with those issues that get us into trouble, like bad habits and unkind attitudes.”

“This sweater sure has gotten me into trouble,” Savannah said.

“Yes, but being snared by your sweater is different from being snared by sin, which holds us back from the life of love and joy that Jesus died to give us. That’s why we need to fix our eyes on Jesus and trust Him to forgive our sins and help us out of their snares.” Mom tugged Savannah’s sleeve. “Now, let’s see if there’s a way to fix this sweater so it doesn’t snare you either!”

–Teresa Ambord

How about you?

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