Too Close For Comfort- THE EVENT HORIZON- Monday
Too Close For Comfort
by
Rocky Fleming
Monday - The Event Horizon
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There is a celestial phenomenon that occurs when a dying star begins to become so dense that it collapses within itself. The denser it becomes the more it drags those things around it into its grasp. Eventually a
"Black Hole" will evolve and this dead star even pulls light into its grasp. This is why it is black, for it doesn't allow light to escape from it. In theory there is a zone where you are either in the Black Hole's grasp, or you are very close to it. That departure line is called the Event Horizon. If anything crosses it, there is no returning from it as it takes its victim into an even deeper clutch, moving it into sure destruction. With this information, I would ask you to be a little creative with me in your thinking as I place you as captain of James Kirk's Starship, USS Enterprise. Just imagine it. You are in his captain's chair. You call the shots. You have a great responsibility to protect your crew while you lead them on a great adventure. There is inherent risk, for you are blazing new territory. You are no doubt an aggressive risk taker as a person. That is why you are a Starship captain, but as a leader you have to consider other things than yourself, for it is your duty. There is a crew and their lives are at stake for every risk and every decision you make will affect them.
In your exploration as captain of your Starship, you pilot the ship to a Black Hole for it is intriguing to you. You stay away from the Event Horizon for you know it would be only one miscalculation, one errant maneuver that could draw you and your crew into it. The question is how close will you venture, for it looks so harmless and you think it couldn't be as bad as people say? This is where you have to be wise, for your curiosity or reckless aggression could put your crew and yourself at risk? Remember that you think of yourself as disciplined and can conquer any situation. You are indeed a risk taker for that is just who you are. You think you know your limits, or do you? Could you become so mesmerized by the beauty of this phenomenon that you forget the magical pull it has on you and your crew around you? Although you don't see it, for it is hard to measure, there is a subtle attraction that is eroding your safety zone and no one even knows it is happening. Captain, what will you do? How much risk are you willing to take with those lives under your care, just to entertain your fantasies?
Now let's change things a bit. Instead of being the captain of a Starship and its crew, you are instead a dad navigating your family through places you and they have never been before. Instead of a Black Hole being the intriguing phenomenon you are attracted to as their captain, it is the adulteress of pornography, lust, greed, the love of money and pride. Those things represent many other ways you are drawn away from your family to engage your mind, or interest, or even your physical body in things that lead to the destruction of your home and family. Make no mistake in thinking that the idea you might be entertaining will work out without any damage. That is the way a fool views things, as he lies to himself. There will be damage! It will happen. There will be penalty. There will be deep regret, for it is not as safe as it looks. There are more kinds of death than just our physical body. It could lead to the death of your family unit, the death of your role as a godly husband who was once faithful, the death of a father who was once a tower of moral authority in the eyes of your children. To think otherwise is to be a fool.
There is an Event Horizon around a Black Hole. To go beyond it there is no turning back and the attraction becomes like a magnet that controls everything in its grasp. There is also an Event Horizon around every sin. It is called temptation. Beyond temptation is sin. It is not a large step to enter the irresistible pull to sin. It is only a small step, just like a glance at an adult website leads to only one small step beyond into pornography, and then a small step beyond into an addiction. Adultery is only one small step beyond an inappropriate conversation or other forms of behavior with someone other than our wife. If we could only see how the magical pull into this sexual lure is subtle and hidden and where it leads, we would run from it as fast as we can. We do not know we are in its grasp until we try to leave it. But then it is too late. It is the same with all addictions. We must stop our progress toward the Event Horizon before we go beyond it. We must back far away from it to be safe. We must stop our movement toward that Black Hole before it is too late, for in its grasp there is a consequence.
If you are the Captain of the Starship called your family, how close to the Event Horizon of temptation are you willing to take your family and yourself? Are you an aggressive risk taker with those loved ones who have been entrusted to your care? This week I want to help you be a better Captain of your ship by helping you get some distance from that Event Horizon called temptation. To do this you need to understand that there is a safe zone that no evil can invade, and finding it and living there is the best place where you can direct your ship. That is our mission this week Captain if you are willing to go there. Are you ready "TO BOLDLY GO WHERE NO MAN HAS GONE BEFORE...?" We pull out tomorrow. Be ready to launch.