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Resources - Meditations
April 2000
Trowel – Building
That Clothesline!
Rev. John Terhorst
We were rightly proud of our new home. No curtains, no carpet, no grass,
no driveway, but it was home. It was a place to drive home to, to be
with one’s spouse and young daughter. Of course, no home is complete
without the traditional Australian rotary clothesline – the type you
used to swing around on when your parents were not looking. It seemed an
extravagant waste of money to have someone put one in, after all, how
hard could it be?
It arrived and needed some simple assembly. I think it came with
instructions. We managed to assemble it, though I do not remember how
long it took. With the passing of time it began to resemble a rotary
clothesline. Now, where in the back yard would it need to be placed? I
consulted with the person who would spend a lot more time with the
clothesline than me. A suitable place was marked on the ground. The rest
was now up to me. I dug the hole carefully. After placing the
clothesline in the hole, ensuring it stood reasonably straight, I added
the cement. No gust of wind would blow this clothesline over. The next
day the cement had dried, it was ready for its first ‘test run’. That
‘test run’ highlighted the only flaw in the construction and mounting of
the rotary clothes run. It seemed like a minor flaw to me, Corrie
thought it was more serious. The problem? Even on tiptoe, Corrie could
not reach it to hang her wet washing.
Suggestions of steps, etc. were not entertained for very long. It would
have to come out, now with a great blob of concrete attached firmly to
the base, and be sunk a little deeper into the ground. It was then we
wondered about the value of saving some money to do it ourselves.
However, we were not deterred, the job was successfully completed and
many a nappy dried happily in the warm [?] Victorian climate.
Do you suppose there is a Christian way to assemble a rotary
clothesline? Did we do it the secular way, and is that why it went
wrong? As reformed people we talk about ‘all of life being lived to the
glory of God’. After all, the Bible has, “Whatever you do, work at it
with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you
know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It
is the Lord Christ you are serving.” [Colossians 3:23-24] Do those
verses address the matter of chores around the home? Or, take another
example. Does a Christian taxi driver do things differently to a taxi
driver who is not a believer? Some time ago I wondered about the
difference between a Christian farmer and a secular farmer. Now whether
you’re in surgery performing an operation, or collecting the garbage,
how is it different for the child of God? You may be lecturing at
university or installing plumbing in a house, is there a difference?
Lights and power points work just as well when the electrician is an
unbeliever. How do we as Christians ‘work at it with all your heart, as
working for the Lord’?
I guess it begins with a question about attitude. The attitude we adopt
when doing the housework, or teaching English to grade 12 students is
extremely important. My attitude to installing the rotary clothesline,
or my attitude to preaching the Gospel, ought to be about the same. In
other words, this is something God allows me the privilege of doing, so
I should develop a positive attitude to the task at hand.
Attitude, and then the way we do our work. We do our work with
gratitude, and we do it as well as we can. God does not expect more than
we can offer. But neither is He pleased with a half-baked effort.
Laziness and inefficiency ought not to be part of the Christian
vocabulary. Yes, there is a Christian way to assemble the humble rotary
clothesline.
Attitude, process, and right thinking! We are gifted and called to
translate the Scripture, and build roads. Some of us do the translating,
others the building. God is pleased when both are done well.
A Prayer:
Father, thank you for what I am able to do. Help me always to do it
well, for I know this pleases you. Amen.
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