A giant sinkhole opened up in Schmalkalden, Germany, about 98 feet across and about 65 feet deep that swallowed a car, part of a garage and house. Yet, it was small compared to the sinkhole that opened up in Guatemala City in 2007. Reportedly, residents heard rumblings for weeks but no one knew why. In one day, almost instantly, a perfectly round plot of earth disappeared and left a hole more than thirty stories deep!
Experts suppose that sinkholes appear because of the movement of earth beneath what we see everyday. The problem can be caused by the movement of water, flooding or changing weather patterns. Sinkholes occur when there is literally no ground under the ground, and everything pays the price for the lack of foundation, especially what’s on the surface.
There are some Christians who are like those sinkholes; they have no foundation under the surface. When circumstances are right, their lives “cave in” and cause damages that no one would have believed or expected. Spiritual sinkholes occur because of lack of knowledge in the word of God (Heb. 5:12-14). Spiritual sinkholes occur when someone fails to act on their faith (cf. Matt. 7:24-27; 2 Pet. 1:5-11).
How does a person guard against erosion of their faith? Second Peter 1:5-7 teaches that the guard is a solid foundation of faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. “These things” repeated in verse 8, verse 9, verse 10, verse 12, and verse 15 are the surest way to solidify the foundation of faith. The promise is that one who “abounds in these things” will not be “unfruitful” or “barren,” “shortsighted,” and “will never stumble.”
Spiritual sinkholes can be avoided if there is more examination of self and examination of faith (Phil. 2:12; 2 Cor. 13:5)! Are our lives vulnerable to spiritual sinkholes brought about by lack of a firm foundation? We would all do well to thoughtfully and prayerfully make sure that we are building only on the solid foundation of Jesus Christ and His word (Matt. 7:24-27).
Andy Baker – Graeber Road church of Christ Rosenberg, TX
Scripture of the Week
1 Corinthians 1:18-19: “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: „I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.‟”
Something to Smile About
• All my life I thought air was free…until I bought a bag of chips.
• Never laugh at your spouse’s choices….YOU are one of them.
• Oh! I offend you with my opinion? You should hear the ones I keep to myself!
• Okay, so you are 10 years old, you have a laptop, iPod, Facebook and a blackberry….When I was 10, I only had one thing to play with….it was called “OUTSIDE.”
• People write congrats because they can’t spell congrajlashins.Think About It
“Be slow in choosing a friend, slower in changing.” — Benjamin Franklin
“Every man should keep a fair-sized cemetery in which to bury the faults of his friends.” — Henry Ward Beecher
“There is as much difference between the counsel that a friend gives, and that a man gives himself, as there is between the counsel of a friend and of a flatterer. For there is no such flatterer as is a man’s self.” — Francis Bacon
“Faith is the strength by which a shattered world shall emerge into the light.” — Helen Keller
“The strength of a man consists in finding out the way in which God is going, and going in that way too.” — Henry Ward Beecher
“Through the dark and stormy night
Faith beholds a feeble light,
Up the blackness streaking;
Knowing God’s own time is best,
In a patient hope I rest
For the full day-breaking!”
— John Greenleaf Whittier
