Are You On The Verge Of Wrecking Your Life? Shane Idleman
In Russell Moore’s compelling book, Tempted & Tried, a chapter entitled, Why You’re on the Verge of Wrecking Your Life (Especially If You Don’t Know It), caught my attention.
Moore writes quoting a scientist who studied cattle behavior, “A slaughterhouse, in order to keep the cattle relaxed, should remove anything from the sight of the animals that isn’t completely familiar. The real problem is novelty . . . Workers shouldn’t yell at the cows, she said, and they should never ever use cattle prods, because they are counterproductive and unneeded. If you just keep the cows contented and comfortable, they’ll go wherever they’re led. Don’t surprise them, don’t unnerve them, and above all, don’t hurt them.”
Apparently, scientists devised new technology that revolutionized death in the large slaughter-houses. Moore continues, “The cows aren’t prodded off the truck but are led, in silence, onto a ramp. They go through a ‘squeeze chute’, a gentle pressure device that mimics a mother’s nuzzling touch. The cattle continue down the ramp onto a smoothly curving path. There are no sudden turns. The cows experience the sensation of going home, the same kind of way they’ve traveled so many times before. As they mosey along the path, they don’t even notice when their hooves are no longer touching the ground. A conveyor belt slowly lifts them gently upward, and then, in the twinkling of an eye, a blunt instrument levels a surgical strike right between their eyes. They’re transitioned from livestock to meat, and they’re never aware enough to be alarmed by any of it.”
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THE GRADUAL SLOPE DOWN
This is difficult to read but necessary. It is a vivid visual for spiritual warfare. Succumbing to temptation is often gradual, easy, and effortless until the enemy levels a surgical strike right to the heart. We’re often too smart to take deliberate plunges, but we’re easily enticed to take one step at a time, one compromise at a time, one bad choice at a time until we’re at the bottom keenly aware of our gradual, but deep descent.
You didn’t choose this, but you are in a war. No peace treaties can be signed, no concessions can be made, and no compromises can be negotiated. You can’t say, “I don’t want to get involved,” because you’re already a target. You can’t remain passive, aloof, or carefree against an enemy who doesn’t sleep or slumber. He is sent to kill, steal, and destroy. Wake up! Life is a battleground, not a playground.
