DEVOTION BY Andrea Merrell POSTED 5/1/2024 6:00:01 AM
In your anger do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.
Ephesians 4:26-27 NIV
The woman was torn. Commitment to Christ or to her old, unsaved friends? Everyone wondered if she would make the right choice and burn those bridges.
Bridges to the past can be dangerous to our spiritual health. Negative influences that keep us looking back and longing for the pleasures of sin—and keep our focus away from the Lord—must be destroyed.
In Ephesians, we read, In your anger, do not sin . . . do not give the devil a foothold. But this Scripture refers to more than just anger. When we refuse to get rid of those links to the past—people and things that try to pull us away from God—we leave the path unguarded and wide open for the Enemy to advance. Those links can lead back to the wrong type of friends, alcohol or drug abuse, or any number of destructive behaviors.
So, how do we burn those bridges? With the Word of God, prayer, and rejection of those bridges. To repent means to feel deep regret, change our mindset, and to do a 180. To turn around and go the opposite way. To walk away from those habits and sins that can harm us and those around us. When we become new creations in Christ, everything becomes new. The old must go.
My friend made the right choice. She cut off communication with the old crowd and walked away from all the harmful influences in her life.
Won’t you do the same? If you have bridges that need to be destroyed, pull out the powerful, life-changing Word of God and put it to work. Kaboom!
(Photo courtesy of pixabay and phoenixsierra0.)
(For more devotions, visit Christian Devotions.)
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Andrea Merrell is an award-winning author and professional freelance editor. She is an associate editor with Christian Devotions Ministries and was a finalist for the 2016 Editor of the Year Award at BRMCWC and the 2018 Excellence in Editing award by the Christian Editors Network. Andrea is a graduate of Christian Communicators and was a finalist in the 2015 USA Best Book Awards and the 2018 Selah Awards, as well as a semi-finalist in the 2018 ACFW Genesis contest. She has been published in numerous anthologies and online venues, teaches workshops on writing and editing, and is the co-founder and regular contributor to www.TheWriteEditing.com, a blog designed specifically for writers. Andrea is the author of Murder of a Manuscript, Praying for the Prodigal, and Marriage: Make It or Break It. Contact her at www.AndreaMerrell.com.