Untangled

I mentioned in the last post a bit about my last weekend at camp. The theme of this camp was untangled, and it provided a great opportunity for me to think about all of the things that tangle us up in this world and keep us from leading an unhindered life for Christ. While thinking about the theme, I kept putting two ideas together. First, I thought about my time as a teenager working construction. I always had to put away the tools at the end of the day, and by the end of the summer I'd become notorious for making a tangled mess of the cords. I learned that being tangled doesn't lessen value or importance, but it certainly hinders usefulness.

I compared this to Paul's words in 2 Timothy. Paul seems so exhausted, yet while at the end of his rope, he seems fulfilled in the thought that he's given all. The only thing that it seems he has left to do is to make sure that Timothy is prepared to carry on the good work that had begun. To do this, he used numerous images to encourage Timothy to stay Untangled from the world so that he could carry out God's purpose for his life.

So I then wondered, what tangles me up in my life. It may not be fair to generalize this to everyone, but when my life is tangled, it's usually a matter of fear, distraction, or just plain inactivity. What do you see in your life that tangles you up and keeps you from all out following Jesus?

I'll write more about each of these "tangles" in the coming weeks.