Jack & Jill?

Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water. Jack fell down and broke his crown and Jill came tumbling after... I have always wondered about that rhyme. Why was it Jack fell off that hill and why in the world did Jill go tumbling after? Surely the path to the well at the top of the hill was well worn and safe to travel. Surely many people had come before Jack & Jill and had figured out the safest way to the well. A well would have been a place where anyone and everyone would go to fetch water for daily activities. There is no doubt in my mind that walls would have been built to insure everyone stayed on the straight and narrow path. There is no doubt children would have been taught from an early age the right path for reaching the well.

So why did they fall off the hill? I suspect Jack decided there must be a shortcut to the top. (Did I hear all the ladies say...That sounds like a man). I suspect that in spite of being taught the dangers of straying off the path, he decided it would not hurt this one time to do his own thing. Unfortunately, it seems that Jill went following after...

Today I was reading in the 5th chapter of Acts the story about Ananias and Sapphira. Now that is a real Jack and Jill type story. A true story about a believer that decided to stray off the path and do his own thing. It seems that Ananias left the the straight, narrow and Holy path to take a shortcut of deceit, greed and selfishness. Unfortunately, Sapphira went following after...We all know the end result to this story. As a result of this choice, Ananias and Sapphira fell down and permanently broke their crown and were carried out dead and buried.

Recently we've been studying and talking about God's call of Holiness for our life. We have decided this call is not just a nice suggestion but is actually a series of commands for the way we should live our lives as Christ followers. This call is a set of directions to the straight and narrow path which leads us to our well of living water.

As a result of Ananias and Sapphira, the bible says that "Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events". In fact it says, no other people who were "halfhearted" believers dared to join them for fear that God would see and know their heart. However, the real church continued to see amazing miracles and the bible says that "Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number.

So how does this apply to us? What happens if we choose to not follow the path of Holiness God has laid out in his word? Are there Jack and Jill consequences? Ananias and Sapphira?

I am afraid we have lost our healthy fear of not staying on God's path? I pray for God to give us back a healthy fear of living a halfhearted relationship with him?