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TheDiscipleMD

The other day I was driving to work when I came upon a road kill. In the middle of the single lane road was a fox that had met an unfortunate death. He had apparently crossed paths with a ten thousand pound car and got the short end of the stick. My knowledge of his demise was accentuated by the blackbirds that were feasting upon his carcass. They flew wildly in the air as my car came upon them. I didn’t think much of it except to notice that the poor fox looked to be freshly killed.  I quickly forgot about the dead fox until the next day when I approached the same spot and found that only a speck of the carcass was left. Within a day the earthly tabernacle of the fox had disappeared. Consumed not only by the wild blackbirds, but by passing cars whose tires picked up parts of his body in their treads. Not a pleasant picture to visualize, but reality can, at times, be harsh. When you venture onto dangerous roads, you can lose your life and your soul. I feel pretty safe in guessing that no matter the size, sex, or health of a fox; it could not have survived the impact of that speeding car.

Over the years I had heard of many tragedies that occur on mountains. It seems that I read about hikers dying on Mt. Hood, found in Oregon, every year. In fact there has been 135 deaths on Mt. Hood in the past one hundred years. This much I can assure you, I will not die on Mt. Hood. I might die some other tragic death, but it won’t be on Mt. Hood. Why? Because I am never going to hike on Mt. Hood. But many people do, and they take a certain, albeit small risk in so doing. But if you do dangerous things, bad things can happen. The same can be said for dangerous “spiritual” things. If you go, watch, read, or do things that put your spirituality in jeopardy, you might escape; but you might end up as “spiritual” road kill. The prophets have a pretty good idea regarding the nature of man. They know that there are “ten thousand pound” addictions and habits that will flatten even the strongest of God’s children. Boyd K. Packer had this to say:

“If you consent, the adversary can take control of your thoughts and lead you carefully toward a habit and to an addiction, convincing you that immoral, unnatural behavior is a fixed part of your nature. It begins as an innocent curiosity, Satan influences your thoughts, and it becomes a pattern, a habit, which may imprison you in an addiction, to the sorrow and disappointment of those who love you”. (Boyd K. Packer, “‘Ye Are the Temple of God’,” Ensign, Nov 2000).

The key word in the above statement is the word “consent”. That is, if you “allow” it! As with the fox, if you choose to travel on dangerous roads, danger is what you will find. And oft-times, death! All addictions and habits usually start innocently enough. A peek, a puff, a swig! Perhaps you will get lucky and escape crossing the dangerous highway of life. But, experience has shown that by not choosing to cross, you will guarantee that you will not fall victim to such habits. I’m sure that poor fox never knew what hit him. But he ventured and he lost! Avoid danger at all cost. Choose the safe path! The path that has been mapped out from the beginning of time. It is the path marked out by the prophets. It is this path that will lead us to eternal life