LEAKY FAUCET

Drip…drip…drip.

A leaky faucet – is there anything quite so annoying?

The woman had listened to the steady, rhythmic, dripping for weeks.

At first, it had sounded as loud as a drum – especially at night. She’d lie in bed, trying to ignore it – but the more she tried, the louder it seemed.

After awhile, though, the noise started to fade into the background. She didn’t even notice it during the day. And at night, it began to sound like the gentle ticking of a long-loved grandfather’s clock…

…until one day, she forgot about it completely.

Drip…drip…drip.

That is, until the day the new water bill came.

OH DEAR! The woman couldn’t believe how high the bill was! It wasn’t possible that all those little "drip–drips" had added up to this much water! The bill had only been a LITTLE higher during all those weeks of dripping – that’s why she had let it go for so long. Now it was almost three times as high. There must be something wrong, she thought to herself. So she called the water department.

"Excuse me, but I think there’s been some mistake on my bill. It’s way too high."

"Do you have a leak?"

"Well, yes," the woman replied, "but it couldn’t have used up THIS much water."

"You’d be surprised how quickly those "little" leaks add up, ma’am."

It’s funny, the woman thought to herself – I never thought such a small thing would cost me so much.

So, she called the plumber.

The plumber got under the sink, started tinkering around – the woman went about her chores, knowing that the "little nuisance" was getting fixed.

"Uh, excuse me," the plumber called out from under the sink.

The woman walked back into the bathroom.

"Yes?"

"We’ve got a problem here."

OH NO.

"What’s wrong?"

"Well, it seems that this leak isn’t your only problem. How long has it been going on?"

"Oh, only a couple of months or so."

The plumber began to explain to the woman that the leak was only the "tip of the iceberg." That hidden behind the wall, there were pipes that were leaking, too. Water had been steadily doing its silent damage.

"I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but we’re going to have to tear the wall out."

Deeply chagrined, the woman gave him permission to proceed.

Several hours later, she heard him call out again.

"Uh, excuse me…"

OH NO!!

"Now, what’s wrong?" the woman asked with trepidation.

"Well, it seems that the plumbing isn’t your only problem. You see, the real problem’s up on the roof."

"The roof?"

"Yup, there’s a leak on your roof. And what’s been happening is this – that leak has let water come into your pipes, which corroded them. Then, that corrosion led to those pipes leaking, and then that made your faucet drip. This has been going on for a LOT longer than a few weeks. Let me tell you, if you had taken care of this right away, things wouldn’t have been this bad."

The woman hung her head – now knowing that she had let a small problem hide a huge problem – and knowing that she could have, should have, done something about it a long time ago. Now it was going to cost her a fortune.

"Fix it, please. Just fix it."

It can be the same way with sin.

Drip…drip…drip.

We let little sins invade our lives. At first, they niggle at our conscience. They bother us. But after awhile, we don’t notice them so much. And before we even know it, they feel like "friends." They’re comfortable, and acceptable.

Until we see the cost.

And the damage…

Sometimes those "little" sins mask a deeper problem. Without our knowledge, those sins are causing corrosion. Our relationship to the Lord is being damaged, and we are blithely unaware.

And those sins are going to end up costing us more than we could have ever dreamed.

Because the real problem is our hearts. When we allow the protective covering of the Holy Spirit to be compromised, when we turn from His guidance and His conviction, we make holes in the "roof" of our hearts. The "water" of unholy actions and unclean thoughts breaks through – and we are being damaged, far more than we can see.

Let’s take the time today to assess our "heart home."

Are there any "leaks" to fix?

BLOG = “Blessedly Leaning On God!”