Have you ever walked along a body of water, maybe a river, a creek, a pond, or a lake…..and as you walk around the edge, there you see with a full awareness the decay of the ground caused by erosion.

Let’s consider the negative effects of erosion for a few moments and what erosion has the power to cause.

When ground erodes, then the firmness disappears.

When ground erodes, then channels of water appear.

When ground erodes, then the land becomes weak.

When ground erodes, then time away from repair creates even deeper erosion.

EROSION.

Clearly, agronomics (the science associated with the management of our soil and our production of our crops) is not my life-course of study; yet, even so, as I have lived, in this world, I have seen the effects and power erosion can take upon the place we walk, the place we live, and the place where we lay the foundation of our homes.

THE EROSION OF THE SOIL OF OUR PATH.

***Lord……Help Us Not Over-Till the Soil.

***Lord……Help Us Not Walk Into the Tall Weeds.

***Lord……Help Us Not Desire the Broken Path, but the Sure Steps You Provide.

THE EROSION OF THE SOIL OF THE FOUNDATION OF OUR HOME.

***Lord……Help Us Not Over-Build, Over-Construct.

***Lord……Help Us Not Hammer Into Walls Weak with Age & Decay.

***Lord……Help Us Not Wish for the Fractured Foundation, but the Sure Vows You Desire.

THE EROSION OF THE SOIL OF OUR BEING.

***Lord……Help Us Not Overlook the Dwellings of Our Heart. 

***Lord……Help Us Not Speak Words in Rage and Anger.

***Lord……Help Us Not Long for the Deep Scars of Hurt, but the Promised Assurance Only You Create.

Erosion does not happen overnight.  It is caused by lack of focus, lack of want, and lack of attention given to the land.  Once the land begins to erode, it is then that the farmer must immediately begin the process of repair, for if he continues to drive over and over and over and over the place where erosion has begun. Then before long, the ground will crumble away, and as if suddenly, the farmer will look at his ground, seeing only the cavern that now exists where once the land was firm, sure, and strong.

As a child growing up on a farm, often I saw the way the overuse of the land can cause a depth of hurt.  One place where I personally experienced erosion was in the creek behind my grandparents’ home.  As a child, we traveled every summer to Kentucky, and the land looked so different from the land found near my Indiana home.  It was in the creek behind my grandma’s house where I learned the power of erosion and the pain it can cause.

The summer day I remember began with four children playing down in the narrow confines of the creek….AND….that particular day ended with a child wrapping her bloody thumb inside the tail of her shirt as she sought medical attention.

“Let’s build a dam,” someone said.

“That’s a great idea,” was the reply (or something like those words were spoken) as the four of us….Chuck, Joey, Ron, and Nancy…..began the process of gathering large, heavy stones to place inside the creek as we created the wall of our dam.

Water has a mind of its own.

Water flows wherever it wills.

Water seeps around the carefully placed rocks, flowing.

Rock after Large Rock was placed upon Rock as Chuck, Joey, and Ron constructed their creek wall.  My task, form the dam.  Make sure the rocks held firmly in place, and Make sure the water did not erode the dirt and escape.  Easy!!!

As I look back upon that day, I remember how difficult my task was that day because I needed far more than two, child hands to stop the water cascading over and seeping around the corner of the creek rocks.  Truly, water is powerful.  Truly, dirt will move when pushed out of the way by water.

I don’t remember who had that large stone the day my thumb was split open; yet, what I do remember is that I was doing the best job I could do in holding back the dirt and rock, and my hands must have been in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Surely one of those boys did not intentionally place that heavy rock on top of my right thumb.

• What I remember most is the PAIN.
• What I remember most is the BLOOD.
• What I remember most is the ANGUISH.
• What I remember most is the BANDAGE.
• What I remember most is the STITCHES that could have been applied.
• What I remember most is the END of MY DAY of PLAY.

In the Bible, we find warnings necessary, ways we can avoid erosion in our lives.  The writer of Hebrews speaks of things that we take for granted, things that if not carefully watched, have the power of eroding away (even as if before our eyes) while we stand and watch.  Just like the creek dam intended by the four of us, it is very difficult to stop the flow of the creek once a path has been created.  In order to create a wall strong enough to hold back the flow of the water, we need more than just the haphazard stacking of rocks.

We need so much more.

“Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU,” so that we confidently say,

“THE LORD IS MY HELPER, I WILL NOT BE AFRAID.

WHAT WILL MAN DO TO ME?”

(Hebrews 13:5-6)

Spiritual stagnation erodes.

Marital stagnation deteriorates.

Sin begins within the mind and then fractures the heart.

Thoughts begin, create a path, and eventually erode the sure ground where once the firm foundation existed.

The world’s method is to “go with the flow,” but that’s not God’s way.

Social Media, Mass Media, and Culture’s Opinions have significant power (if left untouched);  LORD…..HELP US protect that which began with and which belongs to You.

Clearly, there is only ONE WAY to repair ground that has begun to erode; truly there is only ONE WAY to stop the decay.

****PRAYER.

****SCRIPTURE READING.

****WALKING WITH GOD.

****TURNING BACK OUR MINDS.

****RETURNING TO THE ORIGINAL PATH.

****NOT DESIRING A “NEW” WAY.

****NOT WISHING TO CREATE A DAM.

****NOT WANTING TO STOP THE NATURAL FLOW OF THE WATER.

• PAIN.
• BLOOD.
• ANGUISH.
• BANDAGE.
• STITCHES (that could have been applied).
• THE END of MY DAY of PLAY.

LORD, Help Us See Our Lives From Your Perspective.

LORD, Help Us Not Desire A New Path, One Caused By the Erosion of Our Mind that ONLY the devil has the desire to create.

LORD, Help Us Seek You.

LORD, Help Us Honor Our Vows As You Have Taught Us to Do.