Watch For Potholes!

Galatians 5:7
Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?

I hear Christians almost every week say the phrase, "When I first got saved I was so on fire for the Lord." To which I always try to respond, "What happened?"

The sad truth is that we all could be closer to the Lord right now than we were yesterday. The reason for this is we tend to watch the flames or desire of our hearts burn instead of putting more wood on the fire. Our human nature is to glory in our victories. We live so much on the old glory days than we do looking at the days that could be before us.

A preacher friend of mine, Junior Hill, once told us at a Pastor's Conference that he was praying that his last days would be his best. This is someone who is asking God for strength, wisdom and most of all the Spirit to be with him in the last chapters of his life. Let me say that God has truly been answering his prayer.

But sometimes along the way we become hindered. Look at what Paul says about the church at Galatia. He says, "Ye did run well;... You were doing so good and then something has happened to you guys." What in the world happened to these followers? Who hindered them? An interesting things is the Greek word for hinder. It is "anakopto", which means to beat back, hinder by breaking up a road. It's like the waves that beat against the ship trying to maintain its course. It's like driving along and the potholes are so bad, or the road is so damaged, you can't get to your destination.

God's Word tells us that there are things and people that will hinder us. We must be careful of the potholes that try and wreck our lives. I sure don't want a preacher, or the Lord Himself, telling me that I did run well...but you became hindered. Do you always boast of what you used to be in the Lord? What hindered you?