Hindrances to Spiritual Growth

There are things that tend to steal our passion and focus; hindrances to personal growth and worship.  It is incumbent that each believer take an introspective look to root out those things that would bleed off our passion and love for Christ and get them arranged in proper priority so that Christ has first place.  This isn’t easy, and it takes focus.  God had given the nation of Israel a holy feast to emphasize the importance of removing hindrances of fellowship with Him.  During the feast of unleavened bread, families would purge out all the leaven from within the house.  Even the children would get involved to find and remove that which symbolically represented sin.  It is sin which separates and diminishes our fellowship with God.  Jesus opened the way to God by the blood He shed for our sins.  But unconfessed and unsurrendered sin can inhibit growth or cause spiritual atrophy.  If we are to worship and serve the Lord effectively, we must assess our priorities to make sure they are in line with clear Biblical teaching.