A Tragic Tumble
By Elizabeth Cole
“So then, let us stop judging one another. Instead, you should decide never to do anything that would make others stumble or fall into sin.”
Romans 14:13 (GNT)
Jack and Jill went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down and broke his crown,
And Jill came tumbling after.
I’ve always felt so sad for Jack and his friend Jill. On what seems to be an appropriate and well-intentioned mission, Jack falls. After considerable thought and pondering, I’ve come up with a number of questions about this tragedy:
1. Did you carelessly wander off the path, Jack? No map? Is that what caused you to fall down?
2. New shoes? I’ve noticed in the church nursery that new shoes are a guarantee of at least two falls per hour.
3. A little too chatty to pay attention to that turn in the road?
4. Or maybe someone had strung a line across the trail to trick you?
While Jack’s fall is certainly concerning, especially the part about his broken crown, it’s Jill who gets my particular sympathy. Apparently, she was just innocently trekking along—doing her best—when all of a sudden Jack’s fall tripped her up short and sent her tumbling too.
Yes, it’s Jill who has my heart. The Jill who’s struggling with an addiction and is invited out for “just one” with the girls. The Jill who’s trying to figure out what godly “wife-ing” and parenting looks like, but encounters consistent criticism, husband-bashing and harshness in her acquaintances. The Jill who’s new to following Christ and experiences rejection by a fellow believer for being a little too authentic. The Jill who’s getting ready to give up trying to make a friend at church. The Jill who thought that love, surrender and obedience to Christ really mattered.
Being in Christ means being in Christ together. What we think and what we do matter, not only in our own walk with Christ, but in those lives whom God has placed beside us on this part of the path.
May we choose this day to be women who grab a hand and help another woman along the way. May this be a day of deciding to lay aside what could cause a sister in Christ to stumble and, instead, to intentionally “walk in the Spirit.” May we live in such a way that others see what we do and give praise to our Father in heaven.
Walk well today, Jack.
Going Deeper:
1. Whom has God placed in your life right now to influence her spiritual walk? How are you doing with that divine privilege?
2. Take a moment to thank the Lord Jesus for those He’s placed beside you to influence you for His good in your life.
Further Reading:
Galatians 5:22-26; Matthew 5:16; 2 John 6
Elizabeth is a wife, mother to two teen-aged daughters and one grown daughter, and Director of Connecting and Women’s Ministries at Oakwood Church.
