Entangled With Deception

December 29, 2025

2 PETER 2:20-21 NLT – (20) For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. (21) For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them.

Peter, the fisherman and bold follower of Jesus, experienced first hand a brief encounter of turning his back on Christ. In shame and with repentance—he returned back to the one he had declared he would never deny. Ever since the ascension of Christ to be with His heavenly Father—Peter, as a leader of the fledgling community of Jesus followers, saw some who started out as exuberant witnesses of the faith become entangled with the cares of the world and turn away from loving and obeying the Lord. Earthly entanglements threaten the life of a spirited faith. 

Are you entangled (even by something that started out good) and estranged from God? Like ivy, a hobby may have started out healthy and beneficial, but now it has overtaken your discretionary time in a detrimental way. Or work, it once served the Lord’s purposes for your life, but now has squeezed the life out of your relationships to the point of total neglect and resentment. Has God’s love been put on the back burner, because other competing loves burn with a brighter influence on your affections? Worldly entanglements require help from God and others to be truly set free! 

Ask Christ in His great compassion to cut you free from the roots of fear and exhaustion. Rest in Him, and cease to strive in your own strength. Quit chasing shiny objects and flashy friends, and be content rather with knowing deeply those who really care about you. Untangling takes time, so remain patient and persevere though the painful process—life comes from cutting back. Heed the warning—earthly entanglements, after knowing Jesus—make it harder to come back to Jesus. Not impossible, but harder. Effective faith avoids entanglements and clings only to Christ! Some people think it is easy to just get out of. They have no idea that God is their only hope. But He will heal. That is a guarantee. Forget the new year’s resolution! You are not promised tomorrow or the next minute to be exact. Don’t be deceived. God will not be mocked!

SCRIPTURE READING

PHILIPPIANS 3:19

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK

In order to be delivered, we must give the devil all his stuff back.