I was sharing parenting stories with a friend recently, something I love to do. I love to hear what her kids are doing, and I love to share about what our kids are doing. My friend was telling me about something that had taken place between my daughter and her, and I was intrigued as the conversation continued. I realized there were some great spiritual lessons that I could take from the situation.

My daughter’s shoe had come untied one evening and she spotted my friend and ran over to her. My girl asked my friend to tie her shoe, and in the same moment, put her foot right up on my friend’s lap, waiting for it to be tied, but all in a very kind way. My friend said that my daughter went to her, full of expectancy, waiting for help to fix the problem she had. I was grateful that my friend was willing to help my daughter, but also that my daughter knew who to ask for help when she needed it.

My son, on the other hand, might handle shoe situations very differently. If he was wearing shoes and had some type of problem with them, he would likely take off the shoe and just toss it aside and then continue with whatever he was doing.

Both of these represent an appropriate way to deal with the situation. Let’s dig deeper, though. Not only are these appropriate ways to deal with physical situations, they are also appropriate when dealing with the sin in our lives.

Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence,
so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. –Hebrews 4:16

When my daughter asked my friend for help, she was acting boldly. She knew my friend would help her and she acted based on the knowledge she had of my friend. It’s the same with sin – when we know about it, we can act immediately by approaching God and asking for His forgiveness, knowing that He will forgive and that we will “receive mercy and grace in our time of need.”

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses,
let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.
And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,
fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.
For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame,
and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. –Hebrews 12:1

My son’s actions - getting rid of a cumbersome shoe that has come untied - seem to be better described by this verse. He throws off the untied shoe that is hindering him, and he goes busily about the activity at hand. His sole focus is getting to complete the activity, and he will do everything he can, including dealing with bare feet, to participate.

Let’s briefly add untied shoelaces to this conversation. I know we’ve all seen kids who walk around with their shoes untied, oblivious to the danger that may cause. It’s like that with our sin, too. We can just keep going, not dealing with our sin, but eventually that sin is going to trip us up, just like the untied shoelaces will eventually cause us to stumble.

When we know about sin in our lives, we can deal with it in any of the ways listed here. We can do nothing, but we will eventually get caught and tangled in our sin. Or, we can stop immediately and run expectantly to Jesus and ask His forgiveness, knowing that He will help and forgive us. Or, we can choose to toss aside the sin and keep our eyes focused on what God has called us to do, praying for God’s forgiveness as we intentionally move away from the situation. The important thing, though, is that we deal with the sin in some way.

I learn a lot from watching all three of my kids and how they do life. It’s a blessing when God allows me some spiritual insights during the everyday routines of life. The actions we all take, on a daily basis, can give us some great ways to relate to the spiritual issues of life.

So, do you ask for help when your shoe comes untied, or do you take it off and keep on going?

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