The Simple Fix
By Jerry Ousley
"Gurgle, gurgle, pop, pop," was the sound coming from the drain
in our kitchen. We have a sump pump in our basement which was
very quiet this past summer given all the dry weather we had (as
well as many of you). But so far this winter it has been very
wet and with the leaks which we thought we had fixed, the
trickling water down there keeps the sump pump busy. The problem
is that when it kicks off and all the water left in the pipes
flows back down through the pump this horrific noise comes back
up through the sink. It's loud and annoying if you aren't used
to it. Deb and I had gotten used to it with just the two of us
at home but when company comes it is embarrassing. Sometimes it
is funny to see the looks on their faces when this offensive
sound comes bursting forth from the pipes but then their look
turns from surprise to one that says, "Can't you get that
fixed?"
I have tried several things over the past few years to alleviate
the situation but none had turned out to be successful. This led
me to the final fix. I had been dreading it because, well I just
don't enjoy reaching over my head and sawing plastic pipe in
two. Even though you're expecting it you're never prepared for
that cold, yucky water that has who knows how many germs
floating around in it to come pouring out on you once you've cut
through the pipe. But I was determined once and for all to get
rid of that offensive sound. I surveyed the situation and made
my plan of where to re-route the drain from the sump pump and
made my trip to the hardware store to get what I needed. This
was going to be relatively simple or so I thought.
I began cutting pipe. I managed to fix the line where the sump
drain had joined with the sink drain. Now all I had to do was to
move the sump drain further down the line. This should do the
trick. Running pipe through several curves I finally got it to
the section where it would re-enter the drain system. I made my
cuts, put in the "T" and got it all glued together. This was not
easy work mind you for an overweight, under-exercised man. I was
tired and frankly glad the job was done. But it wasn't. When I
plugged in the pump it leaked to say the least. There was only
one thing to do cut out that joint and re-do it. I did. To make
a long story short it still leaked. It meant another trip to the
hardware store and cutting out that joint one more time. I did
and finally after three hours the water flowed without leaking.
Great! But there was just one problem. The noise had not
disappeared. It was still there.
Feeling like I had done all that work for nothing I put the
tools away and went back upstairs. Looking into the sink it
dawned on me to simply put the drain plugs in. I did and guess
what? Yep; the noise all but disappeared. Problem solved. I
wished I had tried that three hours ago!
There are times when we go the long route to get somewhere. We
fail to see the simple fixes and insist on doing things the hard
way only to have to come back to the simple fix that we should
have done to begin with.
It's the same with our souls. We try to live up to a standard
that is impossible. We want to please God and we live as best as
we can. We try to give generously hoping God will credit it
against our account. Don't get me wrong, He does see all those
good works that we do. But none of them will fix our souls. What
we need to do is see the simple fix to begin with. Now it might
be a simple fix to us but it cost the very life of Jesus Christ
the Son of God. He sacrificed Himself in our place. It was a
very costly fix but it made it possible for each and every human
soul to have salvation if we will only turn to Him, admit our
sin, and accept Him as our Savior. The Bible tells us, "For the
wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in
Christ Jesus, our Lord." (Romans 6:23). We work hard to live a
clean moral life. Again, don't get me wrong; we need more morals
in this world. But without Christ we are working hard to be paid
with death. But if we'll accept Christ as our Savior, accept His
free gift of grace, and let Him guide in the fixes of life, then
we can enjoy the simple fix and save ourselves a whole lot of
work.
Jerry D. Ousley is the Author of three books, "Soul Challenge",
"Soul Journey" and "Ordeal." Listen to our daily broadcast
Spirit Bread. Find out more by visiting www.spiritbread.com
or email us at jousley@spiritbread.com
