Picture a small lake in the north when winter has just made itself at home. A wooden dock juts out into the thin shell of ice on the pond. Over the whole scene lies a cotton cushion of snow. A young lad walks out onto the dock, long familiar to him from lazy summer days of fishing. He daydreams at the end of the dock, but suddenly his sister’s call from shore arouses him. As he turns around to see her, he loses his balance, one of his feet lands on the ice, and he crashes into the icy water.

You see, as long as both his feet were solidly planted on the wooden dock, the boy stood securely. But as soon as he shifted one foot to the ice, even though by mistake, he toppled into the water.

As long as we keep our trust totally on Christ’s finished work on the cross, we stand assured of God’s promise of eternal life. But as soon as we rest any weight on the thin ice of our own efforts, we will topple into the icy waters of insecurity.