Wisdom's Corner
The Slippery False Step

Have you ever been walking somewhere and stepped on a loose rock and fallen down? Or have you ever been walking and slip and fall on some ice? You may have actually been watching where you were going. You may have thought that it was safe to walk. But you may not have looked close enough to see that the rock was loose or that the ice was there.

You did not intend to walk on loose rocks. You did not intend to walk on the ice. You did not intentionally walk where you knew it was not safe.

Mountain climbers can get into these type situations. When they are very high up on the mountain they are climbing on ice and snow. There may be what appears to be a bridge of ice and snow between two cliffs. As they walk across it they will punch the ice with a pick. This is supposed to give them an indication that the bridge is safe to walk across. But sometimes they don't check as good as they should and then a false step will send them falling through the bridge. The climber did not want to fall. But the climber did not fully realize how unsafe the step would be. The climber still must live with the consequences of his false and slippery step.

In Galatians 6:1 we read, "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted."

The word in the greek for "fault" can mean a slip or false step. The person did not intend to do wrong but ended up doing something wrong. The person slipped from the solid ground of the doctrine of Christ. The person took what he thought was a good step and instead ended up taking a false step. And the person will have to live with the consequences.

Just as other climbers would come to help and rescue the fallen climber, we must go to the aid of the fallen Christian. We should hurry to help him before it is too late. We should want to bring him back to solid ground.

We should always read our Bible. It has the truth and solid ground for us to spiritually walk on. But at times we need the help of others to see things that we do not see. And we need their help when we unintentionally fall.

Until next time, keep studying and learning about the solid ground of God's truth. And if any of this is hard to understand, ask an adult to help you.

Mark McWhorter

Copyright 1999

Published by The Old Paths Bible School
(http://www.oldpaths.org)