Broken Circle

Our dog was obsessed with a large azalea bush once she learned birds stayed in it; her running around it several times every day created a noticeable, shallow rut. Her barking rid the plant of birds each time, but they soon returned because that was where they nested.

 It may seem you’re traveling a never-ending circle of poor choices and performance. You do your best to break the cycle, but soon you’re back in the visible rut on the same path. Those old habits you flush out keep coming back to roost. But there is a way out of life’s rut; Christ died to free us from the penalty and bondage of sin: “Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is through Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24). When you ask God to forgive your sins, He will. Invite Jesus to be Lord of your life; He will. But when you falter along the way, that path doesn’t have to become another encircling life-rut. Call out to your Father when you see an old familiar path forming; trust Him to break the unwanted circle and set your feet back on course for faithful service, and He will.