Spiritual Concrete
By:
Kyle Eaton
This message entered my heart in church as our minister talked about the ending of a new year and where we thought we stood at the finish of 2008 and the start of 2009. Right then I had this thought run through my head about concrete. Yea you maybe thinking, what does concrete have to do with the end of one year and the start of another? To be honest with you, I really don’t know either but it gave me a wonderful thought and I just really wanted to share it.
Concrete can represent a spiritual walk in many ways. As a construction worker these types of Analogies are right up my alley.
Concrete consists of three basic materials:
By:
Kyle Eaton
This message entered my heart in church as our minister talked about the ending of a new year and where we thought we stood at the finish of 2008 and the start of 2009. Right then I had this thought run through my head about concrete. Yea you maybe thinking, what does concrete have to do with the end of one year and the start of another? To be honest with you, I really don’t know either but it gave me a wonderful thought and I just really wanted to share it.
Concrete can represent a spiritual walk in many ways. As a construction worker these types of Analogies are right up my alley.
Concrete consists of three basic materials:
Portland Cement
Water
Aggregates (rock and sand)
Water
Aggregates (rock and sand)
Portland Cement - The cement and water form a paste that coats the aggregate and sand in the mix. The paste hardens and binds the aggregates and sand together.
Water- Water is needed to chemically react with the cement (hydration) and too provide workability with the concrete. The amount of water in the mix in pounds compared with the amount of cement is called the water/cement ratio. The lower the w/c ratio, the stronger the concrete. (Higher strength, less permeability)
Aggregates- Sand is the fine aggregate. Gravel or crushed stone is the coarse aggregate in most mixes
Over time we as Christians start to gather “Spiritual Materials” to form a product that we hope is one that is strong and stands the test of time. These “Materials” are things, people or scripture that have made an impact on our lives. As these things take place our “Spiritual Concrete” is being mixed. As we grow in faith and build a stronger relationship with God our concrete starts to cure or harden. This may take year’s maybe even decades but it does finally cure. Once this transformation starts to take place we start to gain physical and mental strength. The strength it takes to spread the word to others. The strength it takes to be a mentor or be an accountability partner. The Strength it takes to love the Lord with all your heart all your soul and all your mind.
Once you get to this point you know it! You can start to feel this confidence that you never had and it is more than wonderful. But as you picture this massive piece of concrete, so hard and so solid, just remember concrete can also have “Breaking Points”. That leads to my next example. All homes now a days are built with what underneath them? A foundation right. Every house needs a sturdy foundation to build on so the house won’t ultimately crumble and fall apart. But as any construction worker will tell you, Concrete is unpredictable! Sure there are steps you can take to make sure you have good enough soil or your not building on a natural spring but concrete can and will crack. If our “Spiritual Concrete” cracks, which it will, problems will arise. If I were to notice a crack in my basement walls I would start to get concerned. At that point some problem solving would start to take place. But if I didn’t get worried what would start to happen? The crack would start to get larger and my house might start shifting and maybe it just might collapse. That is exactly what could happen in a spiritual realm also.
Over time we as Christians start to gather “Spiritual Materials” to form a product that we hope is one that is strong and stands the test of time. These “Materials” are things, people or scripture that have made an impact on our lives. As these things take place our “Spiritual Concrete” is being mixed. As we grow in faith and build a stronger relationship with God our concrete starts to cure or harden. This may take year’s maybe even decades but it does finally cure. Once this transformation starts to take place we start to gain physical and mental strength. The strength it takes to spread the word to others. The strength it takes to be a mentor or be an accountability partner. The Strength it takes to love the Lord with all your heart all your soul and all your mind.
Once you get to this point you know it! You can start to feel this confidence that you never had and it is more than wonderful. But as you picture this massive piece of concrete, so hard and so solid, just remember concrete can also have “Breaking Points”. That leads to my next example. All homes now a days are built with what underneath them? A foundation right. Every house needs a sturdy foundation to build on so the house won’t ultimately crumble and fall apart. But as any construction worker will tell you, Concrete is unpredictable! Sure there are steps you can take to make sure you have good enough soil or your not building on a natural spring but concrete can and will crack. If our “Spiritual Concrete” cracks, which it will, problems will arise. If I were to notice a crack in my basement walls I would start to get concerned. At that point some problem solving would start to take place. But if I didn’t get worried what would start to happen? The crack would start to get larger and my house might start shifting and maybe it just might collapse. That is exactly what could happen in a spiritual realm also.
If we notice something that is bringing us down or drawing us further away from God we need to start problem solving. If we don’t get down and dirty and fix the “Spiritual Crack” in our foundation early the problem could be catastrophic! Maybe it would start by sinning more and praying less. This would be the crack starting to form. Maybe our relationship that we had with God and Jesus would start to slip away. This is what would make that “Crack” get bigger. Our confidence would start to diminish and our strength would start fading away. God becomes last on our priority list. We start living or lives believing things are in our own hands and not Gods. This is the total destruction of our “Spiritual Foundation”. Things don’t need to go that far though. If we notice the crack in the early stages its not near as hard to fix. Maybe we even see a crack in our Brother or Sisters foundation start to form. We should address that also, and start going to work. You see a problem can be infectious and dangerous. They can make the strongest Christians, the most well built houses crumble and fall apart. If we as Christians don’t address our “Spiritual Cracks” when we have the time we won’t need to worry about a house falling apart or other worldly examples. Rather our salvation could be in jeopardy if the lord decides to call us next. We need to start figuring out what we had before and how to get back to that point. We need to start at the base of the problem and start fixing from there. Nothing is more solid than Christ alone. If we leave everything up to him and God and make decisions with prayer first, God will lead and we will follow. Fix your “Cracks” with not the help of a construction worker like my self. Ask God for help first and then ask man for help second. Rest and be assured on Christ the solid rock that we can stand. All other ground is sinking sand!
“He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.”Deut 32:4
“He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.”Deut 32:4
“In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.”-Psalm 62:7
My hope is built on nothing lessThan Jesus’ blood and righteousness;I dare not trust the sweetest frame,but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
When darkness veils His lovely face,I rest on His unchanging grace;in every high and stormy gale,my anchor holds within the veil.
His oath, His covenant, His bloodSupport me in the whelming flood;When all around my soul gives way,He then is all my hope and stay.
When He shall come with trumpet sound,Oh, may I then in Him be found;dressed in His righteousness alone,Faultless to stand before the throne.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;all other ground is sinking sand,all other ground is sinking sand.
My hope is built on nothing lessThan Jesus’ blood and righteousness;I dare not trust the sweetest frame,but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
When darkness veils His lovely face,I rest on His unchanging grace;in every high and stormy gale,my anchor holds within the veil.
His oath, His covenant, His bloodSupport me in the whelming flood;When all around my soul gives way,He then is all my hope and stay.
When He shall come with trumpet sound,Oh, may I then in Him be found;dressed in His righteousness alone,Faultless to stand before the throne.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;all other ground is sinking sand,all other ground is sinking sand.
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