David Bahn – Reflections

1 Corinthians 10:12

Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.

Every time I have seen a group on a Segway tour it as been because they had stopped to attend to someone who had fallen. Last week, while on such a tour I was that guy for whom the group stopped. I had become a bit cocky and felt all too competent 90 minutes into the 2 hour tour. A slight bumpiness in the road, a look to the left, an unintended turn, followed by an over-correction resulted in my spill. I fell hard. Had I not been wearing a helmet I would surely have cracked open my head. As it was, I got up, and finished the tour successfully. The incident left me only with some soreness and a bruised ego.

But just because you have navigated safely for 2/3 of your life, doesn’t mean a tumble is not in your future.

The fuller context of this verse points us toward the example of others and the lessons in humility they teach us. We don’t have to learn only by our own mistakes; we can also learn from the mistakes of others. That’s why we have the examples of failures as well as successes in the Bible.We need to be careful not to assume it will be the other guy who falls, or the other woman who gives into temptation.

Thank God for those life-lessons we can gain from others’ mistakes. Thank God we have a Savior who did not fail and who picks us up when we do. Jesus also gives us a good example to follow. He did not fall or fail because he was truly humble. He was fully commitment to God’s ways, and trusted in the Father’s keeping.

When we display such humility we offer a good example for others. We don’t have to be the negative object lesson from whom others’ learn, we can be the shining light of humility and trust that stands out in a world crowded with pride and self-aggrandizement.

1 Corinthians 10:6-13

Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. ⁷ Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” ⁸ We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. ⁹ We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, ¹⁰ nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. ¹¹ Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. ¹² Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. ¹³ No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.