I saw it while I was brushing my teeth. I looked closely in the mirror, and I noticed again my top front teeth are not smooth across the bottom edge. Many years ago, I was with a group of church kids at an all-night party at an ice-skating rink. We took a break from skating and set up a broom hockey game and I was going to be the referee. I had not brought a whistle, so a young lady loaned me a ceramic one that she carried in her purse. Our game was played in tennis shoes, so we shuffled over to the middle of the ice for the face off. I had the whistle in my mouth and was going to drop the puck and then blow the whistle to start the game. I was pretty confident that I could handle being on the ice, so I bent over a bit, getting ready to drop the puck…and all of a sudden, I found myself face down on the ice. It happened so fast that I had no chance to catch myself. I started to get up and I realized that I had crushed the ceramic whistle because I could feel small pieces in my mouth. I carefully removed the whistle and to my dismay…nothing on it was broken. What I felt in my mouth were pieces of my own teeth. My casual attitude about the danger of being on the ice caused me to fall and now years later I still have the reminder of dropping face first onto that skating rink. I thought about how that is a danger for us as followers of this Jesus of the Bible. We tend to think that we are pretty much temptation proof, and we can stand strong in any situation. But like that night, suddenly, we can get blind-sided and end up falling on our faces. Everyone in the world is tempted to do things we know we ought not to do. As followers of this Jesus, we are promised in the Bible that God will always be faithful to us and will not allow the temptations to be more than we can stand. The danger is when we think we can handle all this on our own. The Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthian church telling them that “If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall.” God never asks you to do this life on your own. He promises us that if we encounter tough or dangerous times, that he will show us a way out. So don’t let yourself be face planted in the ice because of your over confidence. Choose to let God help you out. And then when you look in the mirror each morning, you won’t be looking with remembrance and regret. But if you do…never forget that he promises that if we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Don’t ever quit on God…he will never quit on you! Here’s our Bible verse for today…
1 Corinthians 10:12-13 NLT If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall. (13) The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.
Remember I’m praying for you!
With love, PJ
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Don’t ever quit on God…he will never quit on you! Here’s our Bible verse for today…
1 Corinthians 10:12-13 NLT If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall. (13) The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.
Remember I’m praying for you!
With love, PJ