A Quick Glance Away

On Monday of this past week I was forced to do what many of us absolutely detest, yet know its value: I went to the dentist. If you find yourself feeling good, like perhaps just maybe things are finally on the upswing, do not go to the dentist; they will only make you feel bad. After going to the dentist I have no idea how my congregation can stomach looking at my hideous mouth while I preach. If I could only draw a picture of my mouth based off of the description given by the dentist I assure you, no crow would ever try to steal corn from me again! Alas I digress. To any who may have read this meaningless rant and are somehow involved in dental hygiene, I apologize. But might I add that the human soul is a fragile thing, treat it with care.

I went in to the dental office for my regular (and sometimes not so regular) cleaning. While the dental assistant was cleaning my teeth I noticed she would do something that troubled me. In one hand she held some form of electric suction straw. The purpose of this as many of you know is to make sure we don’t drown ourselves. This was not the problem. The problem was that in the other hand she held a mechanical pick which scraps all of the junk off of your teeth. This too would not be a problem if I did not notice that from time to time while holding this moving pick in my mouth she would look away. Now I had a problem! In that short second she choose to look anywhere other than where the pick was a catastrophe could have taken place. I grew uneasy with every drifting glance knowing what may be in store for my already hideous mouth in the near future. The way I look at it is this; how long does it take a carpenter to look away from his table saw while cutting wood before something goes wrong? It only takes a second before things can go really bad.

Where this gets tricky is when it comes to Christianity and Christian living. We spend our lives trying to figure out virtually everything. At length we examine how to live better, how to love better, how to serve better; but all of this can change with just a quick glance away. If Christ is the focal point, than anything that is contrary to Christ becomes a stumbling block. Within just a short period of time of not being focused on Christ, lives can be altered, relationships are shattered and scars are formed. All of us have experienced this at some level or another and none of us can walk this earth scar free. What we need to do however is learn from those scars and therefore reduce the scaring that could take place in the future. I have only one answer in regards to accomplishing this; keep your eyes focused on the only one who can protect you. Even glances in another direction have the ability to cause us pain and regret. The path is not easy, it is not short and we do not walk it alone. Allow yourself to be led by our great protector and saviour, our Lord Jesus Christ.