When I was a boy, during the winter months there wasn’t anything I liked to do more than put on a pair of ice skates and go flying as fast as the wind across a smooth sheet of ice. We lived by a pond, and I could hardly wait for it to freeze over. Before going out on the ice, I always made sure it was strong enough to bear my weight without cracking. I soon learned that three inches of new ice was stronger than thicker, older ice. I also learned that there were spots on the pond that I had to avoid, because the ice often was not thick enough and so was not safe.
I remember the skating outings at night under a full moon when a group of us would get together for some fun on the ice. One night, two of our group crashed into each other, and we all skated over to see if either one was hurt. Suddenly, there was a loud cracking sound! The weight of all of us in one place had caused the ice to crack! Of course, we all quickly scattered to other parts of the pond!
Have you ever heard the saying, “He’s skating on thin ice”? It is used when talking about a person who is doing something dangerous even when he knows that it is not safe. You may be “skating on thin ice” right now if you are ignoring God’s warnings about the danger of your sins.
“Skating on thin ice” often has very unhappy results. I saw this actually happen one cold winter night.
A group of us had asked permission from a farmer to skate on his pond. He said yes, but on one condition—we were not to go down the water inlet leading to the pond. We were all having a good time when I heard one boy say, “I wonder why we shouldn’t go down there?” as he skated toward the inlet.
He soon got his answer. The next thing he knew, he was in freezing water up to his waist! The farmer knew the inlet had thin ice when he told us not to go down there. Thankfully, the water wasn’t deep, and it was thin enough ice that he could break his way to the side and climb out. He was quickly wrapped in a blanket and then got in his car and drove home. Years later I asked him if he ever went skating again. He said, “My mud-encrusted skates are still hanging in the basement. I figure that if I don’t have enough sense to listen to a warning, I shouldn’t be skating!”
Are you “skating on thin ice”? Yes, you are, if you are not listening to the warnings about your sins that God gives in the Bible. There is terrible judgment with no escape for those who die in their sins: “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:2727And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: (Hebrews 9:27)). “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?” (Hebrews 2:33How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; (Hebrews 2:3)). The only way to escape that terrible judgment is to accept right now the offer of salvation that God has provided: “Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many” (Hebrews 9:2828So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. (Hebrews 9:28)). That verse tells us that God’s love and grace to sinners are so great that He sent His Son Jesus down here to die on the cross for us. Another verse also says, “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation [satisfaction] for our sins” (1 John 4:1010Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (1 John 4:10)).
Have you accepted God’s forgiveness for your sins through the death of His Son? If not, you are in very great danger because you are “skating on very thin ice”!
ML-01/15/2017