First Baptist Idabel

     My wife and I and our two daughters had been home from vacation for only a short time when my daughter fell outside while climbing on the clothes line and broke her arm. There was no doubt that something was seriously wrong with her when she came in the house with those blood curdling screams. We sat her down on the couch and gave it a look. It was already swollen around the elbow and she could not straighten her arm out without screaming in pain. So, we put an ice pack on it and took her to the emergency room. The x-rays confirmed that she had a fracture to the upper part of her arm close to the end of the bone. They put her arm in a sling and then we had to take her to a bigger hospital to see a specialist because the fracture was close to the growth plate in her arm bone.
     After seeing the specialist, we were reassured that everything was going to be ok. The growth plate was not affected by the fracture, but she would have to wear a cast for several weeks to allow the bone to heal. Her arm healed just fine and now it is as if nothing had ever happened to it.
     It has been several years ago since she fell and broke her arm, but the clothes line pole that she fell from while climbing is still there as a reminder of what happened. Kind of like that old railroad tie at my mother’s house that reminds me of the bicycle wreck I had when I was a kid. I didn’t break any bones, but it was a pretty bad wreck; me flying over the handle bars and everything. It was probably one of the worst bike wrecks of all time!! I often will think about that wreck when I see the railroad tie and will tell the story to whoever I am with, just as my daughter will probably always remember how she fell from that clothes line pole when she sees it.
     I was much more cautious riding my bike around those railroad ties after that wreck. I don’t believe my daughter ever climbed onto that clothes line pole again.  This is much like sin in the Christian life.  Sin hurts.  The things that cause us to sin are always there as constant reminders of the pain that sin has caused.  We should always remember what God has done for us and the many blessings that He bestows, but it is also important to remember our failures so that we do not repeat them.  Jesus said, “If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire.” (Matthew 18:8) It’s not self mutilation that Jesus is referring to, but avoidance.  If there is one of those places that you know you shouldn’t be, then don’t allow your hand or foot to set near them. 
     SO BE CAUTIOUS!  I know it sounds like fun to climb on clothesline poles and to ride bikes real fast around railroad ties, but you might just get hurt. 
 
Weekly Challenge:  Share your own 'danger zones' with a friend or family member and ask them to help hold you accountable to avoid these areas.