[294 words]
He had decided to attempt suicide by jumping from a bridge onto a busy Michigan freeway.
The Michigan State Police weren’t going to let that happen if they could help it.
In an effort to break the man’s fall, were he to go ahead and jump, troopers directed 13 semis to park close together, side by side under the bridge. The trucks were close together and as close to the possible jumper as they could possibly be.
While this tactic did not guarantee that the man wouldn’t be harmed if he jumped, it certainly did lessen the possibility.
Eventually the man decided to walk off the bridge instead of jumping (Associated Press, April 24, 2028).
Sometimes Christians get close to the edge of “falling away” from the Lord’s body. Their brothers and sisters in Christ might notice them distancing themselves from other members of the church, sporadically attending worship services and fellowship activities, etc…
There are and will be times when Christians stumble and fall in their walk down the narrow road of Christianity.
In any case, Christian brothers and sisters should be prepared to break the fall of the falling.
One way to prepare for those times is to make sure that members of the Lord’s body are as close as possible to each other, in order to minimize the possibility of the weaker brother being spiritually harmed.
Christians should be living side by side so that when the time comes to attempt to break the fall of the falling, the possibility of great harm is minimized.
Galatians 6:1 teaches that stronger Christians should make the effort to restore the erring.
The closer Christians are to each other, the higher the possibility of breaking the erring one’s fall and gently restoring him.
Troy Albers
Rosenberg, TX