The Slippery Slope

Our backyard hosted a bunch of slippin’ and slidin’ this weekend. A 50 foot stretch of plastic, some cap nails and several bottles of dish soap added up to hours upon hours of wet and giggly fun.  No doubt, after years of broken store-bought slip n’ slides, this homemade creation was the best 20 dollars I’ve ever spent!

With my personal bondage list still rumbling in my mind,  (see Friday’s post) I watched the kids and their friends slip recklessly down the small hill in our backyard. And I marveled at the vivid picture their downward slide provided my own slippery slope. I’m learning that it’s a quick trip from freedom in Christ to self-induced bondage.  The chains of my critical spirit begin with one judgemental thought. My unattractive cloak of complaint is woven one grumble at a time. My prison of selfishness is built moment by moment as I take my eyes off of Christ and place my gaze on myself. On my own, I can’t stay away from that slippery slope. One little step turns into a giant slide into bondage. But armed with the truth of God’s Word, I can live in the joy of my own Christ-purchased freedom. When the Apostle Paul begs believers to “put on the helmet of salvation,” he is reminding us to protect our mind, for that is where bondage begins.

As I pondered the slippery scene in my yard, I decided to conduct an experiment. I explained to the kids that we were going to play a game. We established three areas: the grass on which they ran before they hit the slip and slide was called “living by God’s truth.” The top 1/3 of the slide (a section that was marked by a tree in our yard) was called “thinking about sin” (or as Luke renamed it- THE TEMPTATION ZONE).  I explained that this tiny piece of the slippery slope was a picture of what it’s like when we think about straying from God’s word. Then the rest of the slide- a huge 20 foot stretch of plastic- was the “sin zone.”

I asked the kids to begin at the top of the yard. I informed them that they were to run for the slide and listen for my command to “stop!” As soon as they heard the word, they were to freeze in place. Not surprisingly, as long as they were on the grass (living according to God’s Word), they could easily freeze in mid-action. Sure-footed, the kids easily obeyed my command when the green grass was beneath their toes.  However, as soon as their barefeet stepped on the plastic, they were totally incapable of stopping. Even if I tried to halt their slide at the very top of the hill, they could not stop their body’s momentum from slipping past the tree and into the “sin zone”.  Basically, the instant they hit the “temptation zone”, they were unable to prevent their own fall. After several attempts, we all agreed that when it comes to sin, it is a quick and slippery slide from thought into action.

At one point, as Lizzy struggled to stop herself in the middle of the slip and slide, she yelled in frustration, “I should have never stepped foot on this thing!” Exactly my point. 

Today’s Treasure:  “Praise our God, O peoples, let the sound of his praise be heard;  he has preserved our lives and kept our feet from slipping.”  Psalm 66:8-9