A true biblical community calls for daily fellowship and active participation that reflects Christ’s design for His people.
August 13, 2025
Do you always hold on to the rail when you go downstairs? Most people don’t because they are confident that their balance is good. But did you know that every year in the United States, 12,000 people die from falling downstairs? Twelve thousand!
Statistics often run off us like water on a duck’s back. So, let’s think of a sweet young mother. She needs to do some dusting upstairs, and so she carries a cup of coffee up the stairs in one hand and the duster in the other. No problem.
A few minutes later, her dusting is done, so down the stairs she comes. She has the same cup in one hand, the same duster (and a book she grabbed) in the other hand. She plans to snuggle up on her favorite couch, finish her coffee, read the book, and then it’ll be time to greet her wonderful kids when they get home from school.
As she descends the stairs, her slipper catches on the carpet. She falls forward and screams in terror. Seconds later she lies dead at the bottom of the stairs. Two young children now have no mother, and a loving husband has lost his precious wife—simply because of overconfidence. And all the while, the rail was there to protect her from a violent death. Multiply that tragedy by 12,000 each year and weep.
“The Christian holds on to Jesus for dear life, and we know that He is able to keep us from falling and to present us faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy (Jude 1:24).”
A number of years ago, I fell down our stairs. It was a mere three steps, but I couldn’t believe the violence with which I hit the wooden floor. Gravity is merciless.
This life is like navigating down a steep staircase, but there’s another unseen force at play. It’s a merciless law that the Bible calls “the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:2). And if we stumble in one point of that law, we suffer the consequence of death (James 2:10).
Sadly, much of this godless world thinks that it can navigate down the staircase of life without stumbling. But those of us who understand the weakness of our frame (that we’re but dust) gladly hold on to the God-given rail. The Christian holds on to Jesus for dear life, and we know that He is able to keep us from falling and to present us faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy (Jude 1:24).
Fearful though life is, we have this strong consolation: “The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:2).
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