Thursday, October 01, 2015

Clogged Downspouts

Dear Saints,

The real reason I am sending this email is to remind you to clean your gutters and downspouts. A lot of rain is supposed to be coming our way and the biggest source of water in your basement is a failure of your gutters and downspouts to drain the water away from your house.

But since that sounds like a very unpastoral reason to send an email, I want to take this opportunity to say something spiritual. ;)

We suffer when we fail to keep our downspouts working. There are many reasons for them to be clogged and it may be the case that the downspouts work just fine. Only problem, debris in the system. Get that cleared out and you are good to go.

I am referring to the Waters of the Spirit flowing through the downspouts of our Christian lives. 

What clogs us up? At least two things.

1. Sin and sins. Personal and private, so-called secret sins. But as my old pastor's mother used to say, "Beware, your secret sins will find you out." They may be revealed and reveal you. Or, they may simply accumulate and take you down. But it is a maxim that is true, what is hid will be made known. God already knows. Lusts, porn, drunkenness, gossip, bitterness, unbelief. Whatever it is. Confess to Him and be done with it. Let the waters flow.

2. Competing authoratative voices. We live in a loud age and the volume is deafening. Take all those voices and pack them into your head and your drains get clogged. The Spirit is quenched. Who is authorative? Academics? Celebrities? Popular vote? Internet bloggers? Of course not. Run all these voices through the test of Scripture. Sit there and hear God as He speaks loudly in a still small voice. 

So, go unclog your gutters and drain pipes before it rains.

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