My life does not go according to plan.
The other day I took a little slip at the petrol station while I was filling up my car with diesel.
I had filled the tank – no dramas. And was quickly running into the shop to pay for my fuel, when I placed my foot on the step to enter the store. And it just so happened that there was an invisible slippery spill of drink on that step that someone else must have accidentally spilled, and when that happened, in an instant, my legs slipped out from under me, and I landed with a smack on my behind and smacked my head and arm while I was at it.
Now, I am very lucky that I am not terribly old or weak because though I was bruised and shaken by the fall, I was not permanently injured or disabled. And this meant that – with some help from a kind passerby – I was able to get myself off the floor, pay for my petrol, drop my children off at school, and continue with my day.
But that day, I felt a few aches and pains and I was a little dizzy with a bit of a headache as a result of the knock to my rather hard head, I began to think about God and His eternal plan for my life.
You see, my life does not go according to plan. And just as I am unable to predict every slip and stumble in my life – and often these things happen without my intention or negligence and are simply the result of the time and space in which I find myself, so too can I be confronted with temptation and slip into sin.
And just as the slip onto the group caused me to feel a little bruised and battered for a day or two, so too can sin cause me to experience harm to my spiritual soul and my immortal life.
And I have been thinking about that today. Because that little slip derailed my day. It meant that I felt a little more shaky, and a little less comfortable than I otherwise would have. And this meant that I was a little less productive and a little less efficient that day. And this is what sin does to me as well. You see, when I slip into sin, things work a little less well and function a little less efficiently. And that means that my choices are a little more limited and I am just a little more in danger of falling further and further into sin.
And this means that I am unable to hold firm if I am unable to focus and concentrate on my full process.
And this is important because it is a distraction. And one slip becomes another until we slip ourselves all the way to hell…
And I have been thinking about that today, as I remember that slip. And I think to myself – what a disaster a slip really is. What a terrible disaster…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.