Daily Devotion 

Have you ever heard of the Endurance. It’s a ship whose crew, in 1914, was in a mission to cross Antarctica through the south pole and which got stuck in sea ice in the Weddell Sea near Antarctica and was being crushed. It was well below freezing, dark almost all the time, and no rescue would be coming any time soon.

Ernest Shackleton, the captain, ordered the crew to disembark and take 3 life boats, food and supplies, and each crew member was only allowed to take 2 pounds of personal items. They have to leave behind so much of what they had brought, so much of what had been important to them. They had to leave behind the goal of the trip, even.

Instead, they kept only what would help them survive, striving for life. Setting an example, Shackleton discarded some gold coins and a ring. He tore Psalm 23 and a passage from Job out of his Bible to bring with him,

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;”

As those called into faith by the Holy Spirit and given new life, we told to leave behind the cares of the world. Leave behind the things that would encumber us and drag us down, harming both ourselves and others.

In Philippians, Paul is saying that he is leaving all of his works behind. He had been a Hebrew of Hebrews, a Pharisee zealous for the Lord. He had everything to boast about according to the way the Jews followed the Law, but he realized it was all meaningless. The only thing that mattered was faith in Jesus. So, he left it all behind to follow Jesus.

The crew of the Endurance kept some things, the things which would help them press on towards life. In the same way we don’t leave all things. There are things which we keep in order to press on towards life. So, we read God’s Word and we ask God for wisdom and discernment to know which is which.

What encumbers you and what helps you grow?

• We may have goals or desires that used to drive us which work against our life of faith and we need leave them behind in exchange for new goals and desires given to us by God.
• We may have relationships that either need to be strengthened because they encourage us in the Lord or relationships which may need new boundaries because they push us from God.
• What about how much we are on our devices?
• What about kids’ activities? What about movies we watch or music we listen to?
• Like Paul, we may need to stop taking pride in our works, how much we give or how much we go to church or how much we help the poor.

Keep in mind that many of these things may be good in the right place and perspective. Going to church is good, but thinking it makes you better than someone else, isn’t good. Kid’s need activities for socialization, good health and more, but if the activities are preventing them from having family devotions or going to church, priorities need to be re-evaluated.

• On the other hand, we may need to leave some sins behind, sins which we don’t really want to let go of.

These things don’t save us or condemn us, but they do affect our walk with God. So, let’s forget the past

Let’s Pray…

Heavenly Father, give us wisdom to know what encumbers or faith and what strengthens it. Help us to leave behind the things that hinder us and press on towards the goal, eternal life with God in heaven.

Amen