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Small Errors, Big Errors
You've heard the story of the bully who draws a line in the sand and tells others that they better not cross this line... "or else!"
Many of us have encountered someone like that during our youth. Chances are, it isn't your most enjoyable memory, especially if you did cross over the line. The line in the sand isn't a new phenomenon. It has worked for bullies around the world for generations. But how effective would this strategy be if all the bully said was, "You better not cross over somewhere around here..." Wouldn't work, right? What makes his threat work is that everyone knows where the line is. It is clearly drawn. There is no room for doubt. It doesn't make sense when you have no idea where that line is--when you can't see it.
The principles God gave us to live by are like a line drawn in the sand. When we understand clearly God's plan for our lives, His endless love for each one of us, and the beauty of a life lived in submission to Christ, our lives are transformed. Where we struggled with fear, we now experience peace. The strangling effect of worry is replaced with joy. The ugliness of anger is transformed into the beauty of love and forgiveness. A life in Christ is not a demonstration of human weakness but of immense courage. In short, living by God's principles can deliver us from evil.
Small errors make big ones
It is the small issues which usually trip us up. Have you decided ahead of time how you'll respond if the boss asks you to behave in a way that challenges your Christian walk? Of course you won't embezzle funds. But what if the boss asks you to tell a caller that he or she "isn't in right now," when in fact he is standing right next to you? What do you do? Where's the line? If your convictions about the Christian walk are weak or uncertain, you'll find yourself in a dilemma. You know there's an area somewhere around here you have to avoid, but you don't know exactly where it is.
The moment an aircraft leaves the runway, it begins to go off course. Wind direction, air currents, and other factors cause minor deviations from the intended compass heading. The pilot knows ahead of time that this will happen. Left uncorrected, these minor errors would cause the aircraft to end up hundreds of miles to the right or left of the intended destination. The pilot must continually maneuver to keep the aircraft on track. Minor course adjustments made many times ensure that the tiny mistakes remain small for the duration of the trip.
"...in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes."
(2 Corinthians 2:11)
"But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ."
(2 Corinthians 11:3)
Satan knows our weaknesses. He drives wedge into our deepest convictions, cleverly designed to tear down the temple of our Christian life one brick at a time. A clearly-defined set of written principles is like a strong foundation for your Christian life. Christ is the rock upon which it is built, and the temple--your life--is built upon that.
Just like an aircraft, when we know the destination we want to arrive at, and we check our course heading regularly against it, we can achieve our goal. What's your course heading? Where are your lines in the sand? Do you have any? Have you ever thought about them? Are you watching for deviations and making those course corrections along the way?
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