CaPowell
Participating member
- Location
- Stillwater, OK
The other morning, I was sharpening chainsaws and thinking about the intricacies of life. Great combination, I know. Anyway, have you ever noticed how the first time you sharpen a new chain it is really easy, that is if you haven’t hit a nail or some other odious piece of metal. I consider myself a decent sharpener, but for whatever reason, by the time I get to the fifth or six time sharpening a chain, there are always a few teeth that are just not quite right. The top corner is nice and sharp and the top angle is right, but something is off. As Buckin’ Billy Ray (the goofball in the picture below) would say, I’m just not “getting the gullet.” My grinding stone is naturally following the groove that I’ve made over the past several sharpenings. It just naturally follows that path. I find at this point, the best thing to do is back off a bit and grind a little deeper.
Just like that grinding stone riding the shallow curve of the tooth and not getting the gullet, we often find ourselves coasting in life and usually don’t like where we end up. A friend of mine once said that he doesn’t like the term “addiction.” Instead, he prefers “deeply entrenched habit.” I know someone will disagree with me on this and that’s fine. I’ve heard that some people are more genetically predisposed to addiction. I don’t know much about that, but I do know that we are all predisposed to an awful disease- it is called the “sin nature.”
Once you start doing certain things over and over, you make a nice little path. You get to where you just stay on the path, because it is easy and comfortable. Eventually, it becomes well-worn. You get to where you can walk the path with your eyes closed. Maybe, at some point, without even noticing it, you start carrying your regrets with you and dragging your shame behind you. The path slowly gets deeper. Over the years, you walk the same path more and more often, until you look up one day and you are standing in a deep dark pit with no exit.
I don’t know what path you have been walking on or what pit you may be standing in. You may have all the appearances of a perfect, healthy life on the outside, like the sharp corner and proper angle of the chainsaw tooth, but be dying on the inside. You may be addicted to alcohol, drugs, or women. You may have alienated your family and be completely and utterly alone right now. You may have wrecked your marriage and lost your kids. Maybe you are “okay” and are living a “moral” life, but you never know if you are good enough.
You might be trying to scale the high wall of your pit of sin and darkness, but to no avail. Every time you get close to the top and try to swing one leg over, your other foot slips and you fall right back in, maybe even rolling into a deeper and darker place than you were before.
I just want to tell you that there is hope! We have a redeemer in Christ Jesus. He said that He is the Good Shepherd. If you call His name, He will graciously pull you out of your pit with His shepherd’s crook.
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (I know I sure have). The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. For God so loved the world (that means you), that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
Won’t you come to Jesus? He is the answer. He is the only way to heaven. He is the way, the truth, and the life. He wants you to come to Him! He even said so in the book of Matthew: “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
He put no qualifiers on that. He didn't say clean yourself up first and then you can come to Me. He just said come. Come in all of your weakness and brokenness. Bring all of you sins and failures with you. That's what He came for- to save you.
I don’t know if anyone will read this, but I ask that before you respond, ask yourself if you have really looked at the evidence. Have you given Jesus a fair trial? I know for me, knowing what I have now learned, it would take WAY more faith for me to be an atheist than to trust in Jesus.
Maybe you are skeptical. Maybe you are modestly intrigued. Maybe you are asking why Jesus? I would say first off, because He is beautiful. Nobody asks, “why listen to Mozart, or Bach, or Beethoven?” For pleasure, because their music is beautiful. In the same way, sit down and read the four Gospel accounts (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). Read them just to see what they say. Read them for their beauty. Read them as literature. Then, afterwards you can examine the veracity of the claims they make. You can research their authenticity. And, if you dare, you can pray, “God, I don’t know if You even exist. I don’t know if this is really Your word or not. I don’t know if this is true. If you are real and this is your word, please make it clear to me. If this it the truth, please let it be abundantly clear. Give me wisdom….”
Just like that grinding stone riding the shallow curve of the tooth and not getting the gullet, we often find ourselves coasting in life and usually don’t like where we end up. A friend of mine once said that he doesn’t like the term “addiction.” Instead, he prefers “deeply entrenched habit.” I know someone will disagree with me on this and that’s fine. I’ve heard that some people are more genetically predisposed to addiction. I don’t know much about that, but I do know that we are all predisposed to an awful disease- it is called the “sin nature.”
Once you start doing certain things over and over, you make a nice little path. You get to where you just stay on the path, because it is easy and comfortable. Eventually, it becomes well-worn. You get to where you can walk the path with your eyes closed. Maybe, at some point, without even noticing it, you start carrying your regrets with you and dragging your shame behind you. The path slowly gets deeper. Over the years, you walk the same path more and more often, until you look up one day and you are standing in a deep dark pit with no exit.
I don’t know what path you have been walking on or what pit you may be standing in. You may have all the appearances of a perfect, healthy life on the outside, like the sharp corner and proper angle of the chainsaw tooth, but be dying on the inside. You may be addicted to alcohol, drugs, or women. You may have alienated your family and be completely and utterly alone right now. You may have wrecked your marriage and lost your kids. Maybe you are “okay” and are living a “moral” life, but you never know if you are good enough.
You might be trying to scale the high wall of your pit of sin and darkness, but to no avail. Every time you get close to the top and try to swing one leg over, your other foot slips and you fall right back in, maybe even rolling into a deeper and darker place than you were before.
I just want to tell you that there is hope! We have a redeemer in Christ Jesus. He said that He is the Good Shepherd. If you call His name, He will graciously pull you out of your pit with His shepherd’s crook.
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (I know I sure have). The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. For God so loved the world (that means you), that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
Won’t you come to Jesus? He is the answer. He is the only way to heaven. He is the way, the truth, and the life. He wants you to come to Him! He even said so in the book of Matthew: “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
He put no qualifiers on that. He didn't say clean yourself up first and then you can come to Me. He just said come. Come in all of your weakness and brokenness. Bring all of you sins and failures with you. That's what He came for- to save you.
I don’t know if anyone will read this, but I ask that before you respond, ask yourself if you have really looked at the evidence. Have you given Jesus a fair trial? I know for me, knowing what I have now learned, it would take WAY more faith for me to be an atheist than to trust in Jesus.
Maybe you are skeptical. Maybe you are modestly intrigued. Maybe you are asking why Jesus? I would say first off, because He is beautiful. Nobody asks, “why listen to Mozart, or Bach, or Beethoven?” For pleasure, because their music is beautiful. In the same way, sit down and read the four Gospel accounts (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). Read them just to see what they say. Read them for their beauty. Read them as literature. Then, afterwards you can examine the veracity of the claims they make. You can research their authenticity. And, if you dare, you can pray, “God, I don’t know if You even exist. I don’t know if this is really Your word or not. I don’t know if this is true. If you are real and this is your word, please make it clear to me. If this it the truth, please let it be abundantly clear. Give me wisdom….”
