Just a little Slip

“Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure.” (‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭4:26‬)

It was a lovely winter afternoon, the sun was shining and the sidewalks were dry after a couple of days of rain. As is my habit, I decided to take advantage of the weather to take a walk through my neighborhood. As I turned the corner onto a familiar street on my route, I noticed a little patch of leaves near the edge of the sidewalk.  It seemed innocent enough.  At the same time, I glanced over my shoulder to look at a group of children walking home from school.  

In that brief moment of backward distraction, I stepped forward with my left foot onto the patch of leaves.  My foot slipped, I went airborne, and instinctively my right hand went out to the ground.  With a  snap, my wrist broke just above the joint.  The injury is called a simple, distal, radius fracture, but in reality, in that moment the next little while of my life has changed dramatically. It was just a little slip! 

As inconvenient as a broken wrist might be, a spiritual slip on the path of life can have much more serious consequences. When we don’t keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, and get distracted by the world around us, or even think that sin is “just a little slip”, we put ourselves in great danger of experiencing the long-term consequences of a broken relationship with God.

Jesus is the perfect example for us of someone who never took his eyes off the path and never slipped.  He was tempted by Satan (Matthew 4:1-11), and experienced wild popularity as the “Rabbi of the Hour”, as masses of people followed him to see him perform the signs, miracles and wonders that were evidence of his deity (John 6).  Even his closest disciples had visions of earthly power and glory for his destiny (Matthew 16:13-23), yet he never lost sight of his path to the cross.  (‭‭Philippians‬ ‭2:5-11‬)

Our encouragement to you is to keep your eyes focused on the path that Jesus has marked out for us. And if you’ve had a little slip and the consequences of that are weighing you down, we encourage you to get back on his path and keep on walking. Jesus is the Great Physician who is able to help you recover from the fall.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” (‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭12:1-2‬) 

And if you don’t know Jesus, we invite you to come and see for yourself this Jesus,  the only path to God. 

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” (‭‭Psalm‬ ‭119:105‬) ‭