Bible Study Verses
Jude 1:24-25
To Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy - to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. (NIV)
Thoughts
A couple of weeks ago, I pulled a dumb-head move. I was setting up a tree stand and needed to knock down a few more pine branches just above the seat of the stand. I didn't want to take the stand down as I already had it leaning up against the tree, so I just told my son to hang on to the ladder at the base while I climbed up to the top to finish off a couple of branches.
The brace on the ladder was leaning up against the tree, and as I cut through the first branch above the seat, my momentum shifted and knocked the brace off the tree down below me. I could see it happening, and it seemed like everything was in super slow motion for a moment. I quickly looked up and tried to grab a branch. The ladder stand started to buckle in the middle, and I could tell that I was headed backwards. As the ladder started to come off the tree, I could see that I had about a 6' gap between a tree and some logs in which to land. I pushed myself away from the platform as I was falling - landed on my feet and rolled onto my posterior and then onto my back.
Fortunately, it was pure moss where I landed, and I didn't end up with anything really hurt other than my pride.
(Dave M)
Action Point
I knew better, but I did it anyway. I thought it would save time, and never did I really think that I would hurt myself by what I was doing. Spiritually, we can fall pretty seriously too.
We try to justify our behaviors or actions because of convenience at the time - not really taking the time to think through the potential consequences. No one is perfect; that is for sure. But, we need to be conscious of our potential areas in which we might fall. The collateral damage could be great - from your wife . . . to your kids . . . to your reputation. Consider the cost of your decisions and choose to honor Christ in all that you do!
Sportsmens Tip of the Day
If you are putting up a ladder stand, make sure to screw in the bracket on the tree before you do any climbing.
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