“Don’t worry the roof will cover it…”
On Monday I helped shingle a gazebo that had been given
to the city. The shingles on it were well worn and needed to be replaced. I haven’t shingled often, so I only know
enough to be dangerous. With every bit of tar paper, flashing or shingles that
I put on I find myself hoping that the roof doesn’t leak. And, every time I crawl
onto a roof I hear, “Don’t worry the roof will cover it…”
My dad was a school teacher while I was growing up,
consequently summers were “free” for him. He used to say that he got into
teaching for three reasons: June, July and August. So, dad would spend that “free”
time working another job. One of those summer jobs was working for local
carpenter named Delbert Spain.
Delbert didn’t often turn dad loose on many projects
without supervision – after all dad was a teacher not a carpenter. But once in
a while dad was directed to tackle something on his own. Later Delbert would
come and inspect the work. Well one day dad made a bit of a mess with a
project. And all Delbert said was, “Don’t worry the roof will cover it.” (Delbert had a good reputation, so I suspect he
fixed it later, but I don’t recall that part of the story.)
Last week I discovered a plumbing problem at our house.
The line to the lagoon was blocked. So we had the line dug up at the point of
the blockage and found the reason.
Apparently when the trench was backfilled a rock fell
down on the pipe and knocked a couple of holes in it and partially crushed it. “Don’t
worry the dirt will cover it.” I’ve
since learned that there are ways of filling in a trench that ensure things
like this don’t happen. None of those steps were taken in this case.
In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthian church he
delivered some sobering news to those who attempt to put a roof or dirt over
their shortcuts, errors or failures.
Because of God’s
grace to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are
building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very
careful. For no one can lay any
foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ.
Anyone who builds
on that foundation may use a variety of materials—gold, silver, jewels, wood,
hay, or straw. But on the judgment day,
fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if
a person’s work has any value. If the
work survives, that builder will receive a reward. But if the work is burned up, the builder will
suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping
through a wall of flames. 1 Cor.
3:10-15 (NLT)
After five years of use the broken pipe was finally found
out, and just like it some of our Kingdom efforts may be revealed for what they
are. But some errors, shortcuts, and
failures may remain covered up forever – not! Eventually God will reveal the truth. Which, by the way, is something that He has known all along.
I’m guessing that most of us wouldn’t knowingly bury an
error we created and then sell it to others. We wouldn’t build a building full
of mistakes and then hope that the roof will cover it. So let’s take Paul’s
encouragement to heart and give nothing short of our best to God. Kingdom work
has eternal consequences, it has to be “built” to last.
Ron
