I touched the hot stove. You may be wondering what that means.

When my daughter was growing up, she was a very independent girl, and a little bit stubborn. For example, I’d tell her not to touch the stove, because it was hot and I didn’t want her to burn herself. But she wouldn’t take my word for it. She’d have to touch the hot stove and see for herself… burns and all.

There are times today, even at my age, where I go against my instinct and still reach out to touch the hot stove, so to speak.

Only today, I needed to run a quick errand. Normally, it would have been something that would have taken me about 15 minutes to do. But this time, I wanted to go to a different location, even though I knew it was farther away. Traffic going in the new direction would be light, so what was the big deal?

Only as I was driving did I realize how much farther out of my way this place was. Why did I choose to go in a new direction, when my old, familiar location would have worked fine?

But I had to touch the hot stove, didn’t I? I had to double my time out, at least, just so I could go to a new location. It didn’t make much sense.

But lesson learned. I touched the hot stove and got burned — wasting time and gas in my car.

How often are we distracted by something shiny and new, even if it’s the same place but in a different location? Why can’t we be satisfied with what we have?

As a Christian, I hope and pray that nothing shiny or different distracts me from the love of God and all He provides for me. It is good to have that constant presence in my heart and in my life. I don’t want to be burned by turning away from all that God provides.

Sometimes we learn the lesson the hard way. We touch the hot stove, even when we know better.

Lesson learned…again.

What about you? Do you have a lesson that you keep learning over again? How can we combat our need to touch the hot stove?

Let’s encourage one another.  *rmy