When I was a young boy and in grade school, my family visited some friends who owned a farm in Kentucky. I had never been more than 20 miles away from our farm until then and it was a great adventure to a young boy. After we were there several days, I jumped at the chance to ride one of their horses, Prince. Even at my young age I loved ridding. However, I quickly realized that this horse was much larger than he looked from a distance, I proceeded cautiously.
Being an intelligent fourth grader, I decided to play it safe by climbing a wooden fence next to where the horse was standing and mount him from there. With one foot on the left side of the top fence rail, I threw the other leg over the horse who was on the right side. Immediately the horse began to sidle slowly away from the fence. Now I hadn't planned on that, and I needed to make a hasty decision. You see, I wanted both to ride the horse and to hold on to the security of the fence. Needless to say, after my legs had stretched as far as they would go, I fell face down on the ground.
You would think such an experience would teach one a lesson. Yet in the years that followed, I would still find myself trying to "straddle the fence." And the results would always be the same as that first experience. Only the fence wasn't on either our farm or on the farm in Kentucky. It was the fence between commitment to Christ and the world. And believe me, the falls from this fence hurt a lot more.
For most folks, some time is spent as a fence straddle and most folks have experienced a fall or two. This situation isn't something new. It's something folks have dealt with even way back, almost to the beginning of God's Word.
If you are a fence straddle, save yourself a lot of pain and don't try to straddle the fence. Make sure you jump off on the right side.
Being an intelligent fourth grader, I decided to play it safe by climbing a wooden fence next to where the horse was standing and mount him from there. With one foot on the left side of the top fence rail, I threw the other leg over the horse who was on the right side. Immediately the horse began to sidle slowly away from the fence. Now I hadn't planned on that, and I needed to make a hasty decision. You see, I wanted both to ride the horse and to hold on to the security of the fence. Needless to say, after my legs had stretched as far as they would go, I fell face down on the ground.
You would think such an experience would teach one a lesson. Yet in the years that followed, I would still find myself trying to "straddle the fence." And the results would always be the same as that first experience. Only the fence wasn't on either our farm or on the farm in Kentucky. It was the fence between commitment to Christ and the world. And believe me, the falls from this fence hurt a lot more.
For most folks, some time is spent as a fence straddle and most folks have experienced a fall or two. This situation isn't something new. It's something folks have dealt with even way back, almost to the beginning of God's Word.
If you are a fence straddle, save yourself a lot of pain and don't try to straddle the fence. Make sure you jump off on the right side.
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