Do you remember the epic scene from Sleeping Beauty when Prince Phillip cuts and hacks his way through the enchanted wall of thorns in his efforts to reach the princess?

It’s an inspiring, stirring thing to watch him battle past the very elements that were bent on choking the life from him.

And have you also noticed that choking scenes show up in nearly every action film? Invariably, there is a scene where the good guy and the bad guy start grappling on the ground, each looking to strangle the other. In some versions of these choking scenes one of the assailants holds a knife and attempts to slowly drive it through his opponent’s temple.

But whether it involves knives or knuckles, there is a predictable moment in every action flick when the hero gets choked.

The same is true in your life.

In Mark 4 Jesus warns us that the worries and cares of this life would love nothing more than to throw a full nelson chokehold around our necks and slowly suffocate us. He goes on to tell us that if we fail to break free from their grip, the very word of God can be stolen away.

It’s important that we push back. It could save our spiritual lives to remember that busyness, stress, and overcrowded schedules are not merely annoying inconveniences—they’re chokeholds bent on strangling our life and suffocating our word.

Let’s be Prince Phillip. Do you remember what his sword was called? The fairies named his weapon, “the Sword of Truth” and with it he struck back, choking the very things that wanted to choke him. Let’s take charge of our lives and do the same.