It'll never happen to me

Joshua 23:12 Recognise the danger of turning away and being joined to the enemy

But if you turn away and ally yourselves with the survivors of these nations that remain among you and if you intermarry with them and associate with them ... that was a real danger and they needed to face up to it. It is important that you know that there are people who profess to be Christians but then they begin to live as unbelievers again. It is foolish to simply think that will never happen to me. It is a real danger.

Following the severe flood events of 1998 and 2000, the UK Environment Agency prioritised the need to increase public flood risk awareness. And so they produced a report drawing on data collected during research undertaken for the Environment Agency. A paper was produced contributing to understanding one aspect of flood awareness: people’s recognition that their property is in an area that is potentially at risk of flooding. They called the paper "It'll never happen to me". The title reflected the way so many people assumed that they would never be flooded even though they were living on a flood plain. Let's not make that mistake. It could happen to you.

Bravery

There are many examples of bravery in the history of God's people. Those stories should encourage us to be strong in our own day. In the sixteenth century one of the greatest preachers of his day was Hugh Latimer. On one occasion he was to preach before the king, Henry VIII. As he thought about what to preach he realised that what he had to say would not go down very well with the king.

As he began his sermon he said, “Latimer! Latimer! Do you remember that you are speaking before the high and mighty King Henry VIII; who has power to command you to be sent to prison, and who can have your head cut off, if it please him? Will you not take care to say nothing that will offend royal ears?”

He then paused and continued, “Latimer! Latimer! Do you not remember that you are speaking before the King of kings and Lord of lords; before him, at whose throne Henry VIII will stand; before him, to whom one day you will have to give account yourself? Latimer! Latimer! Be faithful to your Master, and declare all of God’s Word.”

Latimer eventually died in the reign of Henry’s daughter, Queen Mary but he had already begun on the right road long before. Be very brave.

Growth in grace

When I was a young boy my father was not very good at taking me to see the football games I wanted to see. He was much more a lover of grass roots football and so he took me to games like the local factory team or under 21 internationals. My dad liked to spot the players who were going to become big names in the future. He himself had played football alongside a man who went on to be a professional player with Ipswich Town in the period when Ipswich were working their way up the leagues to eventually be Division One champions in 1961-62. My dad knew then that the most ordinary players could improve and rise to the heights. We ought to think something like that with regard to the Christian life - we begin as young believers but we can make progress. Indeed, who knows how far we may go, by the grace of God, if we keep looking to him.