The Fatal Temptation

 •  4 min. read  •  grade level: 6
 
Long before our times Christian parents often recognized the insidious allurement that "the dance" held for their young folks. The beautiful gowns of the girls and women, the handsome attire of gallant young men, and the seductive strains of voluptuous music blended with the odors of flowers and perfumes to obscure in participant and beholder alike all sense of right and wrong. Could anything so beautiful be evil? Why, it must be fun, for all the dancers looked happy. So argued the very young; and sad to say, some of their worldly elders supported them in this mistaken judgment.
It was not so with Mr. and Mrs. Hauff. From their own personal experience they had long ago learned the folly and snare of following blindly such leaders of the blind. Through the mercy of God they had both been stopped in a downward course and brought into a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Proverbs 14:12 had been pointed out to them, with the dire consequences of following their own way to the sad end—spiritual DEATH. Thereafter they had sought to honor their Savior as Lord of their lives, and to bring up their children also in His way. Towards this end they had tried to guide them away from the unprofitable practices and evil associations to which all are exposed in this scene.
However, the young are not prone to learn unpleasant truths by hearsay; and to Anna Hauff, their beloved teen-age daughter, an often quoted scripture was an unproved text. It was: "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" Jer. 17:9.
Another scripture, an important admonition which Anna passed up as not pertaining to her, is found in Proverbs 1:10: "My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not."
How much sorrow might have been avoided if poor Anna had clung to the answer the Psalmist gives to his own question: "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to Thy Word." Psalm 119:9.
One evening when her parents were absent, a group of her companions urged her to join them at a public dance hall. Anna had often watched others dance and felt sure she knew the steps. Oh, if she could only dance just once! Her parents need not know. It was not hard for her to yield to the enticement of her friends, for her heart had already deceived her into thinking that her parents were withholding legitimate pleasure from her.
Anna went; and Anna danced, not once but several times. And as she danced she questioned, just as Satan had in the garden: "Hath God said"—?
Suddenly there was a cry: "FIRE! "
In their excitement, everyone ran for the exits, as did poor, disobedient Anna. Panic followed, and the weak gave way to the strong. In the crowded hallway Anna stumbled and fell. The terror-stricken crowd rushed over the prostrate form, and poor Anna Hauff was trampled to death.
What a tragic home-coming for the parents! What sorrow for their disobedient child!
An official wrote: "I have often seen this young lady. Now I stand at the graveside. Oh, had she only considered and obeyed her parents! They tried to bring her up in the fear of the Lord, and to lead her to the Savior. The hour of temptation came; and through the allurement of the flesh, she fell."
Dear young friend, as far as we know, that was Anna Hauff's one mistake. Just to think—maybe only once, but it was fatal; and with what dreadful consequences! Take stock. If you are on that broad road, turn around before it is too late. "For wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." Matt. 7:13, 14. Translated from the German "Be not deceived: God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." Galatians 6:7.
"God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16.