Magnetic

Have you ever put to powerful magnets together? If they are big enough, they are almost impossible to pull apart.

Once you do have them separated though, you can physically feel the pull of one on the other.

As you continue to pull them further apart, the strength of the attraction is less and less. If you were to drop one magnet during this process, the two would go back together.

But once you have gotten beyond the magnetic field, then the two will not go back together on their own.

This is a picture of what it is like for us to break away from old habits.

When we first begin the process of changing an area of our lives it is difficult to break free from its pull. We know we have to give up the fatty foods that are high in sugar, but they taste so good.

We know we cannot continue to depend on credit for the things we cannot afford, but the desire to have is so powerful.

We know we need to make a clean break from a bad relationship, but the pull of routine, or even physical connection makes it hard to follow through.

If we can just find a way to make that initial detachment we know it will be easier. But as long as we stay close to the thing we are wanting to get away from, the harder it will be to break free.

Sometimes we even make the break, only to find that a few days later, we stumble, we drop the ball, and go right back to where we were. We were not quite out of the field of pull, the influence of that habit, or relationship, and we fall back into the old routine.

But if we can stick with it and keep distancing ourselves from the things that hold us back, eventually we will break free completely from its influence, and we will truly be free!

Just like with the magnets, we can take courage in the fact that there is a place where we can be free from the pull of our old ways.

But there is one more idea in this that I think is an important tool we can use to help us along in this process. Repentance.

The word "repent" means to make a turn. It is the idea of turning our backs on something, or turning to go the other way.

What do we know about magnets? When you turn a magnet around, you reverse the poles and you reverse the magnetic field.

Take two magnets that are attracting one another, and turn one in the opposite direction. What happens? Suddenly, the two forces that were pulling toward each other are now repelling each other.

In fact, it is nearly impossible to overcome that force and bring the two magnets together.

That is why the idea of "repenting" is so powerful in our lives. In fact, the Bible encourages us to "turn from our evil ways".

When we repent, we put a whole new force at work in our lives, a force that will help to keep us from returning to old habits, bad relationships, or negative environments that keep us from living the successful Christian life we desire.

So the next time you feel yourself being drawn back to an undesirable lifestyle, just stop and repent, turn the other way, and let the freeing power of God's Spirit help you draw closer to Him!