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Jesus calls us to walk a tightrope, in the Bible called “the narrow way”.

There’s no room for “just a little won’t hurt”. The walkway doesn’t have space for “it’s for their own good so I will make them do it my way”. The path to the Celestial City miraculously makes it possible for companions to walk side by side, but not for slaves (in which case the presumed master slips off into the ditch).

Toying with sin leads to – sin. Devious manipulation leads to – sin. Power over other humans leads to – sin. And sin will throw you into the ditch, lock you in a dungeon, lead you off the true way into a byway or terrify you into paralysis so that you stop moving towards God.

Pleasure and convenience are the traditions of our culture. Discipline gets mocked and discarded. So self-righteous people divorce and remarry contrary to Jesus’ teaching. Holier-than-thou’s demand honour and power to make decisions for, and about, others. Religious people protect their turf and traditions against outsiders.

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The tightrope demands keeping balanced, focussed on the end goal and disciplined by training, practice and learning from the Expert.

Nothing more or less than relying on The Way, The Truth and The Life – Jesus. Paraclete guides us. God loves us. Do you really need anything else anyway?

As Paul was guided to put it:
“Brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ we order you not to associate with any believer who doesn’t live a disciplined life and doesn’t follow the tradition you received from us. You know what you must do to imitate us. We lived a disciplined life among you.
We hear that some of you are not living disciplined lives. You’re not working, so you go around interfering in other people’s lives. We order and encourage such people by the Lord Jesus Christ to pay attention to their own work so they can support themselves. Brothers and sisters, we can’t allow ourselves to get tired of doing what is right.
It may be that some people will not listen to what we say in this letter. Take note of them and don’t associate with them so that they will feel ashamed. Yet, don’t treat them like enemies, but instruct them like brothers and sisters” (2 Thessalonians 3:6,7, 11-15 God’s Word).

Keep company with those who will keep you balanced in life, loving to the extreme and under Christ. There’s room on the road for that whole company!