Yesterday I posted on Facebook that I was drawing a blank. I didn’t know what this week’s blog should be about. So I opened it up to suggestions from friends.
The suggestion that got the most responses (2) was to post about how I recently stepped on a nail. Not being one to shy away from a challenge, I decided to give it a shot, so here it goes.
My landlord has a shed in our back yard. It’s not one of those cheap kits you buy at Menard’s or Lowe’s; this thing was built as strong as a bomb shelter. It’s from back in the day when they hammered real nails by hand to attach the shingles. Originally I had planned on having BaconFest in the backyard so I wanted to get it done and cleaned up as quickly as possible. So I offered to do the work for a price.
After a couple of days of struggling to strip the plywood walls the shed got to a point where it was so close to falling that I was afraid to do anything else for fear that it would either come down on my head or fall into the nearby power line. So I called my landlord and he came out and together we got the thing down in a relatively safe manner. The next day I started working on cutting it up into manageable pieces and ready to take the roof apart. As I was carrying a piece off to my disposal pile my foot found a rusty 16 penny nail. It was sticking out of the bottom plate and went its full depth through my thin shoe sole and into my foot. I’m pretty sure I screamed like a little girl followed by cussing like a sailor (I’m not proud of either reaction.)
But I was MAD! The worst part is the fact that it was totally avoidable! Had I simply done the routine check of the area, which years of construction had trained me to do, I would have pounded all nails and avoided the situation entirely.
I’m not stupid, and if you read this blog you are obviously extremely intelligent. But some times we do stupid stuff. And what’s worse is when we have to suffer the consequences of our inaction on things that we know can avoid pain or punishment. For example, we all know that we can potentially face a ticket if we speed while driving. But many of us continue to push the boundaries. I remember getting my first speeding ticket (88 in a 65 MPH zone.) I was so mad! I blamed the cop for messing with me and God for allowing it to happen. When I later relayed the story of the incident to someone they put it to me straight, “Did the cop force you to drive at a speed higher than the posted limit?” I was angry at the person at first but there couldn’t deny that they were right.
I couldn’t help but wonder how many “nails” there are in my everyday life. What kind of temptations do I face that I could very easily avoid? Sure, most of the time I step around or over them, but why? Why do I insist upon running the risk of injury? The logical thing to do would be to remove them by either beating them down so that I don’t catch hold as I pass, or by completely removing and disposing of them.
Romans 3:22-23 says:
But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
God is our gift! He has given us the necessary tools to avoid the consequences. All we need is to trust him and use those tools.
And maybe we can avoid those painful, stupid injuries (or worse.)
No comments:
Post a Comment