October 15, 2024

Hi Friends, 

It seemed like a good and logical idea at the time. We were backfilling the foundation of our new house and there were chunks of cured concrete (from pouring those foundations) and various other pieces of refuse from the building site. The simple solution was to throw them into the ground and cover them with the new “fill” that we were trucking in. 

Fast forward a year later to this past week. I was digging the holes for the fence posts that will support the iron fence I’m making (which will be the last “project” to complete the build).  There are six of them, 36 inches deep. I knew that I’d have to pick our way through a layer of gravel but I figured that, once I did, the digging would be fairly easy in soil that is only recently compacted. The holes had to be dug by hand because several of them had to be placed near an electrical trench that contains the conduit which brings the main power to both our house and that of Tim and Laura. On one particular evening, while Sharon and I took Elly for a birthday treat at Dairy Queen, Tim dug four of the needed six holes. When I got home, he said that it went fairly well, except for one hole. 

You guessed it! Right in the middle of that hole, about one foot down, was a large chunk of concrete. I couldn’t maneuver that piece out of the hole and had to resort to the only solution short of dynamite (which might have put the neighbours off and damaged our electrical feed)  — hammer and chisel. So, for three hours, on my knees, I hammered. A crack would form and  I’d think, “Finally!” — only to find that only a small chunk had broken off. Eventually, I was able to break it into small enough pieces and remove them, only to find that, beneath them were pieces of rotting tree roots and a chunk of 4x4. More than once, I asked myself, “What  are the odds of all this buried debris being right in the middle of one ten-inch hole on the  property line?” 

This lesson from my travail seems fairly obvious to me but, in case it isn’t to you, let me spell it out. There are always consequences for the things we do and the decisions we make. Many times, they are not immediately obvious. This is true in both the negative and the positive sense. Negatively, “…you may be sure that your sin will find you out.” (Numbers 32:23b).  Positively, “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these  brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ (Matthew 25:40) 

What you are doing, or will do, today, matters. It has consequences. The mistakes you make have an effect. The sins you commit will be revealed. The habits of discipleship you practice will change you. The seeds of the gospel that you sow will bear fruit that lasts. So, to quote  Paul, “Conduct yourselves wisely toward outsiders (I think we could add “insiders” to this as  well.), making the most of every opportunity.” (Colossians 4:5) 

Blessings! 

Doug