Walking the Water Lines

                                

Mark 2:21-22 No man also seweth a piece of new cloth on an old garment: else the new piece that filled it up taketh away from the old, and the rent is made worse. And no man putteth new wine into old bottles: else the new wine doth burst the bottles, and the wine is spilled, and the bottles will be marred: but new wine must be put into new bottles.

2 Kings 22:19 Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the LORD, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard thee, saith the LORD.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

Our family serves the Lord as missionaries in the mountains of Southern Brazil.  We currently rent a large farm where we grow our own vegetables and raise enough cattle to stock the freezer with meat for the year.  Our church is about 25 kilometers away inside the city of Lages.  Many people ask us why we live so far from town.  No, we are not “preppers” or extremists.  Our decision to live this way was made mainly for our children.  We wanted them to know how to work and care for their future families.  They have learned how to care for sheep, cattle and chickens as well as plow and plant a garden.  They know how to live without constant electricity, no heat or air conditioning and keep the wood stove going.  But one thing has proven to be a real big, fat, pain in the neck out here and that is, water. 

Our water comes from a natural spring up the hill from us.  Each surrounding farm has lines that run through a barrel filter system and then to their houses.  The lines for our house run quite a ways through pastures, meadows and streams.  The pipes are not completely buried in some parts and all it takes is one cow walking by to squash a section and we are subsequently without water until the leak is found and repaired. 

In my back yard I have a fountain that is constantly running because it is an overflow of our house’s water system.  As long as that fountain is going strong, I know I can do the laundry, cook and shower with no problem, but in the middle of the night if I hear it stop, I know we are out of water.  Would you like to know how often that fountain stops running?  Every. Single. Stinking. Day.  Yep, like I mentioned earlier….big, fat, pain in the neck.

Our boys get sick of walking the water lines.  Sometimes after fixing a break with cut up pieces of inner tubes, they have to walk all the way to the top where the water starts opening the air lines along the way, then walk all the way back to close them.  Sometimes I try and fix the problem myself and open the lines near the house and let the air out, but it doesn’t always work.  I have to call the boys and send them up the hill with their boots and tools to take care of the job. 

This past weekend we couldn’t figure out what was causing the water to fail.  I let the air out of the lines around the house, we checked the pipes under the water tank and still didn’t have any water.  Mark and I walked out by the barn and saw some standing water, found a loose pipe, and fixed it, but it still didn’t resolve the problem.  The boys walked the line and found two small breaks, but still we couldn’t get the fountain going.  I don’t have to tell you how exasperated I was or how much I would have liked to take a hoe to the whole entire system.  Finally we found another loose pipe, let the air out again and voila, we had water filling the tanks and dishes could be washed and no one would go to church smelling like yesterday. 

I asked God to show me what He was trying to teach me through these water problems.  Patience?  Trust?  Hard work?  I just wanted to be aware if He was trying to tell me something.  I sat down with my Bible and read over my Sunday School lesson and the Holy Spirit worked in my heart.  My lesson was on King Josiah.  You remember the boy who became King of Judah at 8 years of age?  He walked with the Lord and did right.  He wanted his people to clean up the Temple and during their repairs, they found the Book of the Law.  Josiah couldn’t believe what he heard when Shapan the Scribe read It to him.  He had it read to the people and they began taking action to obey the Words written in the scrolls.  Why?  Because King Josiah had wanted to make needed repairs and he had found where the real problem was, lack of Truth and obedience of that Truth. 

These aggravating water problems here on the farm are the result of cheap pipes that have been patched over one too many times.  Also the cheap pipes are not properly buried, left exposed to whatever wants to break them, be it the heat from the sun, a big heavy heifer or a hail storm.  The solution is for the owner to dig new lines, lay new pipe and cover them properly.  The real solution is not all our daily patch jobs. 

Jesus spoke of Judaism and Christianity in the New Testament comparing it to putting new cloth on old garments because the hole could end up being bigger in the end.  The principle is the same with our Spiritual lives.  We shouldn't keep patching it up.  We need to walk the lines of our heart, make sure there are not major repairs to be made.  These old pipes that keep breaking around here on the farm are worthless, the patches are temporary and sometimes the “fixes” cause other weaker parts to burst.  If you and I are not careful, we will just clean up for Sunday morning church or to teach our Sunday School class and not really ever get down to where the real problem is that keeps us from a fruitful walk with our Lord.  And when the storms and trials come, we are left exposed, weak and ready to break.

We want to get to know Him better, right?  Well, He wants the same thing.  He wants us to enjoy life living in the Spirit, not constantly working and patching in the flesh.  Wouldn’t it be a real “peace bringer” in your life if you sat down with God and let Him walk the lines of your heart with you?  He has everything that you need in His Word.  He has given you all the tools to really live for Him, walk with Him and serve Him.  Just like I have all the water in the world from that spring at the top of the hill, but I can’t use it if I have cracked pipes.  The Word of God is what will furnish us with what we need and It will show us where to make the repairs in our relationship with Him, but we have to read it. Same time, same place, same Bible.

This is a simple illustration from everyday life, but one that I hope makes an impression on all of us. If we will just take that daily inventory with the Lord, we can find life a lot easier to live in Him.  When the storms come, we won’t be worried that it will break us up, we will know the line is secure.  When that big fat heifer of a sister in Christ comes with her loose lips and cutting words, we won’t even let it get under our skin, because we will know the lines are strong and secure.  When the enemy shoots those fiery darts at us, we will keep right on going and serving because we know God has everything cared for in every area of our lives. 

Go walk your lines with Him. 

Until next time, Lord willing,

Sheri