Something’s Got A Hold On Me!

Beaches in Alaska are nothing like the beaches here in southern California. In southern California, the beaches have sand for miles and miles. Billions and billions of those tiny granules of sand. In Alaska, we have rocks and mud. Or is it clay? Or is it mud? Whatever it is, it has supernatural strength that will suck in your boots and there’s no getting through it with your boots on your feet. It will take one or both of your boots. There is no question about it.

I don’t know where this mud gets it’s strength, but it is powerful stuff. When you see it at the beach, you should try and avoid it. Once you step on it, your boot will sink in. You can try and try to pull the boot out, but more than likely, your foot will come flying out, and most of the time, your sock will be left in there as well. So then you have a barefoot, in the lovely cold Alaskan weather, trying to balance yourself on one foot, because you really don’t want your cold barefoot to land in the cold, clammy mud that has claimed your boot. But alas, your fears come to fruition, as your other leg is not meant to hold up a person all by themselves, and in a great grasp for balance, down goes the barefoot into the mud. The feeling is chilling, to say the least.

When I say this stuff has supernatural strength, I’m not exaggerating. It will grab hold of your boots and will not let go. Every summer, countless boots are lost to the great sucking monster of mud. You need to walk carefully on the beach to avoid the mud. Otherwise, you will waste too much time, trying to pull your boots out. I can testify to getting both of my boots stuck, then having to stand in the cold clammy mud in one sock and one sock off while I pulled with all of my might to yank my boots from the clutches of the mud. Then I had to walk on the rocks in my bootless feet, only to stick the muddy feet back into the boots. That’s another awful feeling, squishy mud in the bottom of your boot, that your feet have to feel. It feels like walking on fish guts.

Sometimes, the enemy brings things or people into our lives that have the same effect as Alaskan mud on boots. Those people or things sent into our lives grab hold of us and won’t let us go. When something has you strongly, that’s not from God. God doesn’t ever want to be second in our lives. He wants to be first. So if something’s got a hold of you. If you feel like you can’t live without it or them, you probably should let it go. The enemy binds. God is a gentleman. What do I mean by that? Like the cold mud of Alaskan beaches, the enemy binds us up with people or things. God never forces our hand. He never forces us to love Him. He never binds us to anything or anyone. He asks us, gently, like a gentleman would. And we can choose Him or not. It’s our choice.

So, as you walk this Christian life, be aware and careful of anything that binds itself to you. Like the cold Alaskan mud, that’s not a good thing.