I remember, as a child, playing and running through the woods near our home. It was way before video games and it was an awesome place for our imaginations. But, occasionally, my clothes would get caught and tangled up in a brier patch. It would take forever to carefully extricate myself from the sharp thorns without tearing my clothes or cutting up my fingers. Eventually, I would break free and run off again until I was caught by more briers if I was being careless and not being watchful of where I was going.
It is much the same way with sin. We have to stay watchful and mindful of where we are headed. Otherwise, we will become tangled in sin and delayed on the road to righteousness as we extricate ourselves from the mess we have allowed ourselves to stumble into. Sometimes we even plow headlong into the brier patch thinking that we can get through it unscathed. That never works!
Often we return to the same old brier patch and plunge right back into it. It is always the same results every time. It can even leave us scarred if we are not careful to pluck away each and every thorn that has attached itself to us. Do not take the brier patch with you. Leave it behind and steer clear of it in the future. Always avoid the brier patch!
Galatians 5:1 (TPT) - “Let me be clear, the Anointed One has set us free - not partially, but completely and wonderfully free! We must always cherish this truth and stubbornly refuse to go back into the bondage of our past.”