On The Edge

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On The Edge

by Monica Gambrell

From my earliest memories, I have always slept on the very edge of the bed. It has never mattered which side as long as I am right on the edge. Maybe it’s because it was easier to slip my arms and feet out from under the blankets—I don’t know. At any rate, this had never presented itself to be a problem until April of 2008. I was in the middle of a deep sleep when suddenly, I found myself on the floor. Somewhat angered by the splitting pain in my head, I felt to see if anything was broken. I had rarely experienced pain so severe. Somehow, I had landed headfirst on my floor.

Now, I have to be honest here: my mattress is roughly 36” from the floor, and my floors are covered in vinyl, so we’re talking about a really hard fall. My head had a fleshy “ridge” from brow to crown for days, my elbow, hip, and top of my hand were bruised badly, and my left knee was bloodied (never fully recovered from that). It was a little comical, if I do say so myself, to see my husband bolt out of bed in our blackened room to stumble around blindly attempting to turn on the light. And even then, he couldn’t find me immediately! I was not laughing, though. As I recall, it was more of a screeching howl.

I remained a good half hour in the restroom trying to regain some measure of decorum before I went back to bed—this time not so close to the edge. A couple of minutes later, my husband was awakened again— this time because I was laughing uncontrollably. I told him that I couldn’t help feeling that if God was trying to take my mind off of my continually troublesome shoulder by making everything else hurt, then I got the message. He didn’t think that was the message. Truthfully, I didn’t either. The point is, we sometimes live too close to the edge. Clear lines are drawn. It is written in God’s Word how we are to conduct ourselves, yet we persist in inching our toes over the line in the sand. We like to see how far we can push the envelope and still walk in the light. Shame on us.

James 4:7: “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

Revelation 3:16: “So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.”

Acts 24:16: “So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man.”

1 Thessalonians 5:23: “May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

As long as we live, we will fight the battle against the world, the flesh, and the devil. May we strive to be holy as He is holy. Maybe your life (save one or two areas) is dedicated wholly to the Lord. That’s not enough. That’s living on the edge. He gave His all for you; now you must give your all for Him.

Garden Center