How Close Can I Get?

I heard of a story once about a group of teenagers that went into a church leaders office seeking guidance. One asked, "How close to the line can we go before our actions become a sin."

The response was, "That attitude itself is a sin."

Sinning is when our intentional actions go against our understanding of the will of God's.  If that's the case, than sinning of the mind is having our intentional thoughts go against that same understanding of the will of God.

The question the teenagers posted above wasn't one of the desire to do good. They wanted to know how bad they could be before it was too bad.

They're focus wasn't on righteousness, but finding a consented level of wickedness, to live in.



As they walked along the precipice of a dangerous cliff, they wanted to know how close the edge they could come without falling. The leader was trying to teach then that they should be focusing on changing their desire to staying as far away from the cliff as possible.



I found that very interesting.

Then I wondered how that translates to us as adults.

Based on what we understand is the will of God for us--His commandments and His personal direction for us-- do we actively seek to live our lives close to that line...just close enough not to go over?

I don't ever recall Jesus saying, "Straight is the way, and narrow is that path....but you can totally walk the edge the whole way because you don't want to fully embrace the path..."

He says, "If ye love me, keep my commandments."  Not 'almost keep them,' and 'begrudgingly keep them.'

There are a lot of things that tempt us to walk that line: pride, popularity, fun, selfish desires, the accolades of man, etc.

But there are much better reasons for staying away from the line.

Consider this:  If the Savior were walking down that road, do you think He would walk on the edge while He entertains how close He can go without leaving the road? Or do you suppose He walks down the center, having purpose in every step.

So, if you want to be near to the Savior, where are you going to put yourself?

That's right. In the center, as far away from the edges as possible- right next to Him.

The steps that we take in this life leave a print. Where will you footprints show you have walked?

The thoughts we have, the intentions and desires we feed, all leave prints on our hearts and minds.

This makes me ask myself some questions: How close is my path to His? and What can I do to get closer to Him.

That's the first step: focus on getting closer to the Savior and His ways, not closer to the edge. 

Where you look is where you will go. So, ask yourself: Where do you really want to be? And who do you want to be next to?