Erasing Erosion
I was walking through a construction area in our neighborhood recently where they had sheered off the side of a hill. As I went by, some movement caught my eye. About a coffee cup full of dirt fell from the top of the hill to the bottom. Looking over, I noticed what amounted to several bucketfuls of dirt that had been sliding down, likely over several days, maybe weeks.
Erosion is a natural process that gravity creates. As dirt is loosened, it slowly gets pulled away and downward to fall to the lowest possible point possible.
If you totaled up all the movement of dirt on the earth in any given day, landslides would be a miniscule percentage, while slow erosion would be the lion’s share. Interesting that the greatest movement doesn’t come from sudden events, but rather barely-visible degradation.
This same principle is in operation in our own lives. Rarely do we experience a landslide of sin. A landslide would be an outburst of rage, or a sudden harmful action. But we all suffer from erosion—a slow, creeping downward fall from the top to the lowest point of our lives. This usually starts with an emotion, then moves into attitude, then out the mouth, and finally into actions. It’s interesting that most of us can recall our landslides, but it can take years to realize where there’s erosion.
This week, watch for where your attitude is slipping south in an area or with a certain person. Listen for where your speech is reflecting a very slow, creeping fall.
The only entity that can effectively stop erosion is rock. The same is true in our spiritual lives.
No one is holy like the Lord!
There is no one besides you;
there is no Rock like our God.
—1 Samuel 2:2 NLT
1 comment
Ann McFarland March 18, 2015
Well said. Good analogy with sin and erosion. Today I was reading in Acts 13:30-37 where it talks about the decay involved in death and how Christ did not experience decay but instead became our "anti-decay" in the spectrum of eternal life. Erosion, rot...a slow process but can be quite devastating. Bumper sticker, "Know Jesus and stop the Rot!" Or erosion! Thanks for this piece.