We had a terrible rain and wind storm last week. It was the worst one we've had for a while - with pelting rain and strong winds. The result was that Sunday night we lost a chunk of our dining room ceiling. Water made a huge bubble in the ceiling plaster, ran down the walls, came out of the heater vent...you get the picture. In other words, it was a mess! Dan got up on the roof and then searched around the attic with a flashlight to see if he could determine the problem but there were not obvious issues. Our roof is only a few years old so we couldn't imagine what could possibly be wrong. It's never leaked before and looks just fine - to the untrained eye!
Well, this morning we had a roofer take a look. After just a brief period of time, the roofer found the culprit -one little shortcut by a lazy roofer and the events leading to the collapse were set in motion. The roofing crew did 7000 feet of roof just fine but in one obscure corner, instead of doing what needed to be done, they compromised and took the easy solution. Their decision didn't show up for a while; in fact it took just the right combination of wind and rain for their "expedient modification" to be discovered, but it did show up...and in a big way!
Our lives as Christians are like that. We go along just fine, doing what we know is the right thing - reading our Bibles, praying, going to church, making good decisions. Then temptation comes along to cause us to compromise. Maybe we get a lazy streak or just go for the easy solution. Maybe situations cause us to deviate from our usual walk with the Lord. And the rationalizations start - it's just a small thing... no one is going to know...one Sunday won't hurt...I read the Bible enough...I'm in a hurry, I'll pray later...I've had extra expenses this month so I'll catch up my tithe next month...everyone else does it...
And it's so easy to slip just a little, to take a tiny shortcut, to compromise a principle or two. That one decision can lead to another and then another. Pretty soon our values get a little blurry. Guilt causes us to become defensive, to justify ourselves, to begin to isolate from those who might find out. The devil is just too happy to provide our excuses and then to help us rationalize our faulty choices. Our seemingly insignificant decision begins to birth a habit of compromise and we are undone. An "expedient modification" turns into a nightmare that all can see. It may take a while, and just the right circumstances may have to occur for it to show up, but it will show up.
The Bible tells us that the lazy man will harvest a crop of weeds (Pro.24:30-31)...that a little leaven leavens the whole loaf (Gal. 5:7-9)...that what we sow we will eventually reap (Gal. 6:7). Our choices, though they may seem small, are seeds that we plant in our lives. If we plant good seed, a fruitful harvest will always come. If we don't, we can only blame ourselves when the roof caves in!! Thankfully, God will rescue us even then and give us the chance to repair the damage but it's sure a mess until it's fixed! Better to just choose to do it right the first time!! It is a life saver in the long run!
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