Monday, August 13, 2007

Who Built Your Walls?

I was supposed to be a part of a wall-dedication yesterday. Yes, you read that right: a wall-dedication. We used human needs funds to build a retaining wall around a community of 350 people. That wall is to protect them from landslides that can occur from seismic activity. The Andes Mountains are known for their frequent tremors. I saw one of those rocks come down the hill one day. It was ugly. The ground shook as the big boulder bounced its way downward. You would have been mortified to have been there. The boulder came to rest against a part of the wall that had been completed. The wall demonstrated it was doing what we constructed it to do.

Before we could build the good wall. We had to tear down the bad wall. There was a wall that was poorly constructed; one that was formed by piling rocks, one on top of the other. Had a boulder come down the steep hillside, that wall would scattered like bowling pins.

It made me think of the walls around us. Some of them are there by the grace of God. He is our fortress. He is our protection. He keeps the big rocks from pounding us. He keeps the enemy at a distance with the walls he sets up.

Sometimes we tear down those walls of protection. We do it through willful disobedience. We do it through rebellion. We do it through anger, grudges, and an unrepentant heart. We actually dig under the foundations to try to escape submission to God. And he lets us do that. He knows that Jesus' true followers will be back; they won't tarry long outside of God's protection.

Sometimes we build our own walls, thinking that we are keeping some things out. The truth is we are keeping too many things in. Those walls become strongholds. They become prisons of our own doing. Imagine the insanity of that! Yet we do it. I never met anyone who has not built up some kind of stronghold in his life. I met plenty who are now free from those strongholds.

Sometimes we are passive in our relationship with Jesus, and we allow his enemy to build walls around us. That is also a stronghold. You have seen those strongholds before. Fear. Doubt. Bitterness. Rage. We may disguise them; but they are there.

Those kinds of walls need tearing down. We need to let the Master Builder go to work and build the protective walls.

Oh, the wall-dedication got put off for a few weeks. That happens in this culture. They forgot to tell me. That also happens in this culture.

In the same way, we can be tempted to put off our homage to Jesus--our worship of the Master Builder. Don't! Thank him every day for his protective walls he has placed around you.

Take a good look at your life. Who built your walls?

4 comments:

John Gillmartin said...

Excellent thinking and a wonderful metaphore.

Kevin, Somewhere in Southern America said...

Thanks, John. After writing that post, I thought of a dozen other metaphors, but had to refrain myself. Maybe I will chase it later this week.

have a good one,

kds

John Gillmartin said...

Kevin -

My prayers are with you and the people of Peru ... we just heard the news about the earthquake. I pray you and yours are safe and leaning on the everlasting arms.

Send me an update on your situation ... jgillmartin@hotmail.com.

Talk about metaphores ... The Wall is between us and everlasting damnation.

Kevin, Somewhere in Southern America said...

John,

I am going to check on the walls today. But I know one wall that does not need checking! For about 30 seconds last night, I actually looked up to the sky to see if this was the return of Christ.