"Too Much Pride Causes Trouble…"
"The lamp of a good person keeps on shining; the lamp of an evil person soon goes out. Too much pride causes trouble. Be sensible and take advice. Money wrongly gotten will disappear bit by bit; money earned little by little will grow and grow." (Proverbs 13:9-11 - Contemporary English Version)
The Mackinac Bridge, located off of I-75 between St. Ignace on the north and Mackinaw City on the south, connects those two peninsulas of Michigan at the Straits of Mackinac.
Completed in 1957, it is now the third largest suspension bridge in the world at five miles long. Forty-two thousand miles of wire were used in each main cable; tension of each cable is 16,000 tons and the bridge’s total weight is 1,024,500 tons. Unfortunately, several workers fell to their death while the bridge was under construction.
One massive undertaking is planned starting in 2008 through its completion – to strip all coats of paint down to the raw metal and to reapply primer and surface paint. Layers and layers of paint are on that bridge – some places have chipped and others have rusted away.
Listening to the ongoing projects in the story, it reminded me of the importance of maintaining our own health – physically, emotionally and spiritually.
The story highlighted the fact that it will take years to get the many layers of paint off the bridge to expose the naked metal.
If we’re honest with ourselves and God, we too, have many layers to strip away to get to the truth of who we are and whose we are. Often, we don’t choose to do that; we continue to pile on more and more paint. As a result, others don’t really know us and we often don’t recognize ourselves.
We may think we’re protecting ourselves or that we’re being considerate of others, but it’s far from the truth. Very few of us have pristine pasts.
Some ‘think’ they are the master of disguise and pride is the primary conduit of deception. “I’m too proud to tell you the truth. Really, it’s my business anyway. I don’t love and respect myself enough to reveal myself to you. Better to throw you crumbs… and pretend that all is well.” As the adage goes, “Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.”
We’ve hidden so many parts of ourselves beneath the layers. And, it takes more each time… more booze, more drugs, more sex, more food, or whatever the addiction is to ease the pain. It’s a very slow death that doesn’t particularly go down easy. Satan may convince you it’s a rosy picture, but we know better, don’t we?
GospeLines Prayer: Father, I’m on my knees asking You to dissolve the bondage I have to whatever sin. Strip me clean of my various disguises and equip me to bare my truth. Remove the various layers wherein I’ve hidden the real me. Help me to shine Your light and to escape the darkness.
It isn’t a pretty picture, Lord, but I want to live in truth as found in 1st John 2:7-9 (Amplified Bible):
"Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the message which you have heard [the doctrine of salvation through Christ]. Yet I am writing you a new commandment, which is true (is realized) in Him and in you, because the darkness (moral blindness) is clearing away and the true Light (the revelation of God in Christ) is already shining."
In His Love,
Carla ÿ
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