“No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” 1 Corinthians 10:13

Another Lesson From the Crusher

I’ve been crushing concrete and asphalt into road base again recently and I’ve observed something. There’s nothing worse than a piece of lumber that got missed being picked out of the rubble pile and made its way into the impact crusher. When that wood comes out of the machine, instead of it being one whole piece that can be taken off the conveyor belt with ease, it comes out splintered into many fragments of various sizes—some lumped together and some scattered all over the crushed material. Try as I might, I can never get all the pieces off the belt as the material rolls by and those tiny pieces contaminate the finished road base product. To prevent this contamination, the first line of defense should be to pick out the lumber when it first comes into the rubble pile. If that doesn’t happen, the second line of defense is for the first picking-station laborer to get the wood off the belt before it goes into the impact crusher. If that doesn’t happen, well—one can hope the piece doesn’t splinter (sometimes it doesn’t—yeah!) but most likely there is going to be a mess at my second picking-station.

This is much like David’s life when he sinned with Bathsheba. His first line of defense should have been to look away from her when he saw her bathing on the roof. Oops—“the woman was very beautiful to behold.” The second line of defense should have been to go into the palace after he saw her and go about the business of a king. Oops—“so he sent and inquired about the woman. And someone said, ‘Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?’” And into the “crusher” he went. Then David sent messengers, and took her, and she came to him—and so on. You can read the rest of the story in 2 Samuel 11 & 12 to find out how his life was “contaminated” from this event.

The lesson is to watch for temptations. Diligently search the “loads coming into the rubble pile of life” for things that can contaminate. Pick out the trash and throw it away. This takes work and sometimes long, hard work. I’ve spent many days and hours searching the truckloads for wood and other trash before the loads get put into the crusher. When tempted, call out to God for help. He will be there to guide and direct you through what’s tempting you. And if you fall into the “crusher”, be like David—“I have sinned against the LORD” (2 Samuel 12:13). Confess your sins and God will forgive you and cleanse you from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:8-9).

“Heavenly Father, thank You so much for Your grace and mercy to help us from falling into temptation. We want to see the warning signs and obey them. Help us to be diligent in the search. Help us to pick it out before it becomes a big mess. Help us to confess when we “fall into the crusher.” Thank You for Your grace and mercy to live with the consequences of our sin. You are so good to us. In Jesus Name, Amen.”