Take Heed

Dear Boys and Girls,

My son came skidding down the snowy hill, gaining momentum quickly. I ran to intercept him. “You’re going to end up off the rocks and into the woods!”

My little boy only giggled.

“You have to roll off the sled before you get that far,” I explained.

Away he ran up the hill to try again. “Look, Mommy! I made a path!” He pointed down the hill at the hard-packed snow. “Now I will go even faster!” With a little push of his mittened hands, the sled began to glide, but it did not need much encouragement. The little sled had plenty of speed of its own, and as it coursed down the hill, it slid faster and faster.

There was no stopping it on the slippery slope, and I shouted, “Roll off! Roll off!” as the sled headed straight for the swing set.

My five-year-old’s face glowed. He saw no danger. His red cheeks and sparkling eyes flashed by, and a moment later, I heard a loud thump. I was glad I heard only another giggle, indicating that he had not been injured, as I turned to look.

Sin is sometimes called a slippery slope. It can begin with just a small thought, just a little temptation, or just a quick look. Giving in to or following that thought soon leads to more sin. When someone lies, he often quickly has to lie a few more times to cover up the first lie—one lie becomes several lies. When someone steals or gambles once, he often cannot stop—one time leads to more and more times.

There are also bad “habits.” If you are feeling grumpy and sneer rudely at your sister, you might find that you keep saying mean things the remainder of the day. If you ignore your mom when she calls you, you will most likely begin to do so more and more. Perhaps it has become a habit to daydream in church or during Bible reading at meals. You cannot even remember when this began. Sin is such a slippery slope.

Eve listened to the serpent. From there, she shared her fruit with Adam, causing him to sin too. After that, she hid from the Lord and tried to shift the blame from herself. The one thing led to the other. Sin is a slippery slope.

The Bible warns us to “take heed.” This means to watch out for something—to be careful of something dangerous—to listen to warnings. What is dangerous? Sin is dangerous. Our heart is inclined to sin; our heart naturally follows after it like sliding downhill. “Take heed.” Take heed that you are not deceived by what you might hear, or read, or see. Perhaps your friend from the neighborhood tells you that she is a good Christian and will certainly go to heaven. She believes this because her parents have taught her this. She believes that as long as she tries to be a good girl, God will not judge her. Another person, a boy with whom you work on the farm, says that he has accepted Jesus into his life, and now he is saved. You hear a woman in the doctor’s waiting room speaking to her husband about her church life, and she talks about faith as if it just means being a member of a church. A little voice of doubt begins to whisper in your heart. “Could they be right? Could that be the way a person is saved?” Take heed that your heart be not deceived…

Sin is a slippery slope. There are so many warnings in the Bible. Do we take heed? Do we take notice of them? “I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue.” “Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees.” “Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared.” “Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived.” “Take heed lest any man deceive you.” “Take heed that ye be not deceived.” “Take ye heed, watch and pray.” “Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged.”

Our heart is so easily overtaken. It can become impossible to stop. We let all the cares or excitement or plans of every day take over every small space in our heart and mind so that there is no room for anything else. Is there a way to turn around on this slippery downward path? Our heart naturally follows after sin, adding sin to sin. We live how it pleases us instead of how the Lord wants us to live. Even when we do good things, we have ourselves in mind, and perhaps others, but we do not have the love to God above all in our heart. Can this ever change?

Yes, there is a way. The Lord must make a new beginning in our life. This beginning is a love to God and a sorrow about sin. Then we become sad about sin. We begin to ask for and seek after other things, more to be desired than every slippery path we have followed before. Such a person is glad when there is another church service, and he becomes afraid of sin. When one falls into sin and begins to slide far away from God, it makes him very sad, and he begs the Lord to draw him back. What kind of person are you? There are only two kinds of people—those who are unconcerned and content in the world, without a God for their soul, and those whose eyes have been opened to see that they were traveling on a slippery path to destruction.

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