Have you seen the cartoon of a man sitting out on a limb? He’s sawing off the limb between himself and the tree. We laugh because we know that when the limb falls, so will he. Yet, he remains unaware.

The bear cub in this photo may not be out on a limb yet. However, we know if he tries to crawl out any of those tiny limbs, he too will fall.

We often fail to see the dangers around us.

Like the man and the bear cub, we cause many of those dangers ourselves.

• Marriages fall apart because of harmless flirting.
• Addictions result from trying just one drink or drug.
• Bankruptcies occur when we can no longer pay all those little charges.

If we never take that first dangerous step, we don’t have to worry about falling.

Let’s take preventive steps instead.

• Weigh the good and bad.
• Make well-informed decisions.
• Set reasonable limits in every part of our lives.

Let’s not put ourselves at risk. Let’s choose not to go out on a limb.

“Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord” (Lamentations 3:40 NIV).

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