I unexpectedly had to be away from home for an extended period of time. When I returned, I started in on my home projects, one of which was to have the circulating pump on my water heater replaced.
The plumber came, replaced the pump, then headed to the back bathroom to check the t-joint. He stopped on his way there and stared into my backyard.
“You have chickens?” he asked.
“No,” I responded.
He leaned a little to his left, tilted his head, and took a closer look.
“Well, you have a chicken,” he said matter-of-factly.
“WHAT?!” I said jumping up from the chair and hustling over to my slider to look. Sure enough, there was a chicken, happy as can be, pecking through the bark out by my trees.
The plumber just smiled. I just thought.
I didn’t want a chicken.
Later that night I was on the couch reading, but my mind kept returning to the problem of the chicken, when I heard some scratching above me. I tilted my head and listened, then stood up under the heating vent. Nope. Then the scratching again. I moved to the corner of the room and turned my ear toward the ceiling. Scratching and scurrying.
A mouse! Or a rat! Ugh!
The next day I was on the phone to my pest control service. My serviceman came out and traps were set for each. I asked him why now, after all these years, and he said (and I paraphrase) critters know when a house is empty and in they move.
Another object lesson. Voids need to be filled.
In nature, something always moves into empty space. I’m afraid I am not at all “fluent” in the sciences, but from what I have gleaned from reading, it is still being debated as to whether even black holes are empty.
The same runs true in our lives. Our lives, hearts, and minds must contain something, so what will that be? The desire to belong, to be needed, to have friendship will drive some to gangs if healthier options don’t seem available. If we don’t fill our hearts with forgiveness and love, then grudges and hatred will take root. If we don’t think on “these things”—“whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy” (Philippians 4:8), then we allow falsehood, and degradation, and every opposite of those virtues to move in.
However, according to Blaise Pascal, there is one void that can only be filled one way or will forever remain empty.
He said, “There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus.”
Similarly, what would the world look like if Jesus had not been born? What would have filled that void?
If you are interested in one answer, I would encourage you to click on the link below. I think you will find it fascinating.
The plumber came, replaced the pump, then headed to the back bathroom to check the t-joint. He stopped on his way there and stared into my backyard.
“You have chickens?” he asked.
“No,” I responded.
He leaned a little to his left, tilted his head, and took a closer look.
“Well, you have a chicken,” he said matter-of-factly.
“WHAT?!” I said jumping up from the chair and hustling over to my slider to look. Sure enough, there was a chicken, happy as can be, pecking through the bark out by my trees.
The plumber just smiled. I just thought.
I didn’t want a chicken.
Later that night I was on the couch reading, but my mind kept returning to the problem of the chicken, when I heard some scratching above me. I tilted my head and listened, then stood up under the heating vent. Nope. Then the scratching again. I moved to the corner of the room and turned my ear toward the ceiling. Scratching and scurrying.
A mouse! Or a rat! Ugh!
The next day I was on the phone to my pest control service. My serviceman came out and traps were set for each. I asked him why now, after all these years, and he said (and I paraphrase) critters know when a house is empty and in they move.
Another object lesson. Voids need to be filled.
In nature, something always moves into empty space. I’m afraid I am not at all “fluent” in the sciences, but from what I have gleaned from reading, it is still being debated as to whether even black holes are empty.
The same runs true in our lives. Our lives, hearts, and minds must contain something, so what will that be? The desire to belong, to be needed, to have friendship will drive some to gangs if healthier options don’t seem available. If we don’t fill our hearts with forgiveness and love, then grudges and hatred will take root. If we don’t think on “these things”—“whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy” (Philippians 4:8), then we allow falsehood, and degradation, and every opposite of those virtues to move in.
However, according to Blaise Pascal, there is one void that can only be filled one way or will forever remain empty.
He said, “There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus.”
Similarly, what would the world look like if Jesus had not been born? What would have filled that void?
If you are interested in one answer, I would encourage you to click on the link below. I think you will find it fascinating.
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