So I went snowboarding last week with my son-in-law, Colby, and his friend, Jonathan. These guys are half my age and I went with the complete understanding that they would probably be waiting around on me all day since they are much better than I am. With that in mind, we got to the slopes, bundled up, strapped our boards to our feet and headed down the first little hill, the bunny slope (more about this hill later). I was determined to pay close attention to what I was doing and do the basic things necessary to keep myself upright rather than face down. I wasn’t too aggressive and as the day progressed, I was happy that I was able to hang with these guys as long as I didn’t try the jumps and other “daredevil” things that they were somewhat successful at.
After about 3 hours on the slopes we decided to take a lunch break. So we headed to the lodge. Well after sitting down for close to an hour my muscles began to tell me that they were sore and not used to this activity. Nevertheless we headed back out to enjoy the beautiful afternoon on the slopes.
As we walked to the designated area for strapping on the board to head to the next lift, I noticed there was a young teenage boy and girl who appeared to be in the very beginning stages of their snowboarding adventures. In my mind I thought this would be a great opportunity for me to display what it looks like for an “old man” to outdo a couple of “yungins.” So I quickly kicked my feet into my bindings and stood up and headed off for this display of competence. About half way down the bunny slope I allowed the edge of my board to get caught up in some soft snow and I lurched forward and planted myself facedown in the snow. I bounced up as quickly as possible and took off only to do almost the same thing again for all to see. I thought to myself, “What the heck are you doing wrong?!?!” Then I realized, in my overconfidence, I had neglected the basics. Once again, I stood up and headed off for an enjoyable afternoon with no breaks and only a few more falls.
Well that week I read a passage of Scripture and that story came to mind. Paul wrote to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 8:1-2, “We know that ‘all of us possess knowledge.’ This “knowledge”puffs up, but love builds up.”
Application: As soon as you think you’ve got it all together, be careful. You will face-plant. We can never neglect the “basics” in our walk with Christ:
- Pray constantly. 1 Thessalonians 5:17
- Read the Bible regularly. 1 Timothy 3:16-17
- Attend Church faithfully. Hebrews 10:25
- Give generously. 1 Timothy 6:17-18
- Be a witness daily. Acts 1:8
If we will faithfully practice these basic disciplines we will have less of a chance of failure. But if we neglect any one of these we might be setting ourself or our children up for failure.
Peace,
Pastor Marty
Enjoy this video of me wiping out. Pay attention at the 2:15 mark.