I vividly recall times as a young person when my dad would use the phrase “thin ice.” Usually, that phrase was directed to me because of one of my mischievous endeavors. I guess dad could see the tomfoolery in my eyes, and he would call out a familiar warning, “Son, you are on thin ice.” No one needed to explain that phrase to me, because it had already been explained in terms even a child could understand (by the warming of my bottom)! The phrase “thin ice” meant that I was about to get myself in a whole heap of trouble if I failed to heed that warning. Surely, most everyone has experienced the feeling of thin ice. Sometimes, warning “cracks” are heard and at other times no warning is given. I recently fell through some thin ice; when I heard the warning crack, it was too late; my feet were already in the freezing water. Thin ice cannot be trusted! Similarly, there are “pockets” of “thin ice” along our journey to heaven that cannot be trusted either.
Smugness is certainly a pocket of thin ice. The smug or proud do not always “crash” into bone chilling waters immediately, but eventually they will take that plunge! The wise man’s words warn, “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18). Maybe not today, but eventually “A man’s pride shall bring him low…” (Proverbs 29:23a). You see the smug/proud walk confidently across what they believe is thick ice, but be not deceived, they are on seriously treacherous footing. Smugness is Thin Ice!
Stubbornness is certainly a pocket of thin ice. Sadly, some are so stubborn that even when it is pointed out that the path they are on is going to collapse, they refuse to heed the warning. Can you imagine how silly it would be for a person to hear the cracks beneath his feet, realize that he is about to plunge into deadly icy water, and yet be so obstinate that he continued with the same stride! As the throne was ripped from King Saul, Samuel warned, “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king” (1 Samuel 15:23). The stubborn will fall. Stubbornness is Thin Ice!
Satisfaction is certainly a pocket of thin ice. How often do Christians reach a point when they feel as though they have studied enough, worked enough and battled enough that they become complacent in their walk with God. God’s children are either “growing” or “dying”! If we become satisfied, then we are most certainly on thin ice and our spiral downward is inevitable. Paul strongly warned against becoming satisfied, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord…” (1 Corinthians 15:58a; cf. Philippians 3:13-14; Hebrews 12:1, et al). We will never know enough, we will never be good enough and we will never do enough! Let’s keep growing (2 Peter 3:18), because to do otherwise is to find ourselves on dangerous footing. Satisfaction is Thin Ice!
Sadly, some are walking about each day on seriously treacherous ground. They walk as though they are on a secure foundation, but they are actually on thin ice. Dear Reader, can you hear the cracks under your feet? Will you allow Smugness, Stubbornness or Satisfaction to be your ruin? Or, will you heed the warnings and move to where the foundation is secure? “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12). Thin Ice is Dangerous!
