Skating on Thin Ice!
“You better watch it! You’re skating on thin ice!” My momma used to say this to us when we were sassy. It was a reminder that we needed to shape up. Tonight, when it started to snow, Kent and I went up the mountain to see if there was more snow at our property. We got in the golf car and rode through the snow and went to the pond. Kent got out and was standing at the edge looking to see if it seemed frozen. The next thing we know, Secret the wonder pup is literally standing in the middle of the pond on ice. We started screaming at her to come back and she nonchalantly walked over to us like “what’s the big deal?” The pond is probably about 8–9 feet deep where she was standing, so if she had broken through the ice it would have been a big deal for us to get to her.
Her attitude through the whole thing, including the 2 more times I had to tell her to come back made me shake my head. I then realized that she probably didn’t even know she was standing on ice. She was still close by us, she was just doing a little exploring. We don’t normally make her come back to us when she is just 20–30 feet away, so it was confusing for her. She didn’t realize the risk she was taking in that moment. I wonder how often God sits down shaking his head at risky behaviors I display that I don’t even realize I’m doing. Or, even more worthy of head shaking, knowing I’m making a bad choice but doing it anyway regardless of the risk.
Do you ever wonder how often you put yourself at the edge of “peril” unbeknownst to you? I was thinking the other day about how a person doesn’t know how desperate they are for a relationship with Christ until AFTER they accept him as their savior. Beforehand, we fill that craving with fun times, good works, momentary happiness, and striving to be recognized in this world for something- anything. It wasn’t until after I became a Christian that I realized just how much Jesus filled all those desperately leaky, empty places of my life in a way that nothing else could even come close!
We are unaware of our desperate state until Jesus shows us just what we have been missing. It doesn’t mean we live life perfectly from that point on, it just means the desperation is now redirected back to Jesus when we find ourself out of sorts, and if we allow the Holy Spirit to guide us. God, thank you for protecting me from myself and the perils I’ve walked into unaware. Thank you also for giving me a heart that longs to get things right with you when I choose the path of perils. Please Lord, keep pushing me towards Jesus and opening my eyes more each day.
