by Fred Thompson

Here’s some good advice to follow: If you’re ever stuck in the snow, avoid spinning your wheels. That will only dig your vehicle in deeper. Instead, shovel the snow out of the wheel paths for several feet; spread kitty litter, sand, cinders, or tree branches under the drive wheels; point the wheels straight ahead and slowly accelerate. Good advice for winter driving, but there’s something spiritual here.

Christians and non-Christians alike get stuck in a place. Often it’s a lonely place of unforgiveness and hopelessness, dark and slippery. We can’t seem to get out. Our spiritual wheels are spinning. We go sliding along smiling, business as usual. People ask, “How is everything?” We reply, “Oh, just great!” We dig ourselves in deeper denying the truth. When our vehicle is stuck in the snow, we don’t sit in it and say; “I’m not stuck.” That won’t get us moving. We need a shovel. Jesus can clear the way for us. We need to receive Him, draw close to Him and follow His example. We need to examine ourselves and get rid of the things causing the slipping in our walk with God. We need to stand on something firm – all the promises of God. We need to dig into prayer, praise, worship, bible study, and fellowship with other saints. A songwriter once wrote; “my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness.” Looking to Jesus, we can proceed straight ahead. Moving in the right direction, we repeat Philippians 3:12-13, “I count myself not to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things, which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things that are before. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”