Watch Your Step!

I John 2:10 “He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.”

Last week I attended Jr. Camp at Camp Victory, in Somerset, Kentucky. I was privileged to hear several men of God preach. One evening, I listened to the man of God preach to the young people that they needed true repentance in their life if they were to ever have any type of walk with the Lord. He the gave them “Seven Proofs of the Repentant Life.” As I listened to him, and watched him, he paced back and forth across the platform, and I began to notice something. A small rug, that been placed beneath the pulpit for extra cushion kept rolling up in front of him, each time he passed it. He would turn and kick at it a little, so as to flatten it. This was so that he would not trip over it next time he passed that way. However, it seemed each time he passed it, he managed to catch the rug somehow and it would roll or wrinkle up again. Finally, he wearied of it, bent down and fixed the rug completely so that it would lie flat. Furthermore, I noticed, from that time on he kind of “side-stepped” that area or took a taller step so as not to let it happen again.

This was truly an example of this man’s life, for those of us who know him. Though I don’t even know that he ever gave the rug a second thought. This man of God speaks with regret when he talks of his life before he was 21 years of age. However, he was saved back then and has served the Lord faithfully now for 50 plus years. He would be the first to tell you that his life has not been a perfect one, and that he has even stumbled, and fallen a time or two. But today, his testimony is a shining light to those who choose to follow in his footsteps.

Psalm 37:23 says, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD; and he delighteth in his way.”

Though the illustration may seem silly to you, it spoke to me. I have four children whom I love dearly. My heart’s desire is for them to grow up and serve the Lord with their whole heart. I am also a Sunday School teacher, and I love my students very much too. I want to see them serve the Lord, as well. Do I pay close enough attention to the steps I take each day? Do I kick at that wrinkle in life just enough to keep myself from falling down? Or am I the type of person who takes the time to stop and fix the wrinkle completely, remembering even to side-step that “problem area” the next time I have to walk that way so that those who are following me (or watching me) will not trip? How about you? How many people have stumbled over the wrinkles you have left in the rug? According to Evangelist Preston Griffis’ life example, all you have to do is bend down, fix the problem, and walk on. And while we’re there, we might want to help the others who have tripped over the mess we left behind. It’s just a thought.

Isaiah 57:14-15 “…”Cast ye up, cast ye up, prepare the way, take up the stumblingblock out of the way of my people. For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.”

HERE! Taste This!

People are funny. We tend to do some very strange things. For example, when you taste something nasty, do you spit it out and throw it away? No. Most times we will hand it to someone else and say, “This is AWFUL! Here! Taste it.” And when something smells bad, do you leave? Not usually. Most times we’ll say, “OH THAT smells GROSE! Can you smell THAT???” And inevitably the person next to us will begin sniffing and trying to smell it too. WHY do we do that? If it tastes bad, or smells awful, why do want someone else to taste it and smell it to? We are just funny that way. I have even said before, when trying to describe a particular taste, “this tastes like the smell of something.” We call that a “stink-taste.” ☺

By God’s grace, I was born into a Christian home. My parents were saved as teenagers. They did share a few things about their young adult lives with us. Choices they wish they had not made, things they wish they could do over, in other words, they had a few regrets. Not many, praise the Lord, but a few. Thankfully, because of their teaching and training, there are many things that I have never tasted or even smelled! Subsequently, there are actual odors that I do not recognize. See, my parents did not feel that experience was always the best teacher. They never handed us something they knew would be bad for us and said, “Here, taste this or here, smell this!” In fact, they made sure that we knew that there would be severe consequences if we ever did! I can’t tell you what those consequences are because I took them at their word. I am not bragging on myself, I am bragging on my parents. They didn’t lead hard, riotous lives, but what little sin they had dabbled in, taught them enough to know to stay away from it. AND to keep their children from it too! They knew that worldly tastes and smells would leave bitterness in my mouth, or a stench in my nostrils, so they trained me to STAY AWAY from them. Instead they showed me “the way” that I should go. (Pro.22:6) They took me to church where I learned, “O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.” (Ps.34:8) And at thirteen years old, I came to know Christ as Saviour. They read me His Word, and I found out, “How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (Ps.119:103) They showed me by example, “Be ye followers of God, as dear children; and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour.” (Eph.5:2)

When I left my parents home, as an adult, I had a choice. I could continue in “the way” that they had showed me, or do it “my way.” Proverbs 19:26 says, “He that wasteth his father and chaseth away his mother, is a son that causeth shame, and bringeth reproach.” Why would I want to waste my teacher or chase away my trainer? The very thought of it turns my stomach, as if I had eaten something that just didn’t sit right. 

How about you? What are you teaching your children, or those who follow you? Do you offer them those “sweets to the soul?” Or are have they just gotten used to having a certain "stink-taste?"