My Faith

I've taken a liking to plumb bobs over the years.  I first used one when hanging wallpaper in our family dining room.

A plumb bob is essentially a weight that hangs from a string. (In case you wondered, the word plumb comes from the Latin word for lead, because the weights had been made out of lead).

To hang wallpaper, you need to have a straight line. But the walls of old houses aren't always straight. So to find a true vertical line as the starting point, you simply hang a weight on a string from the ceiling to the floor.

My favorite part of using a plumb bob is to take some colored chalk, rub it along the length of the string, and then, while someone holds the string against the wall at the ceiling, I hold the plumb bob against the wall near the floor. Then with my other hand, I pull the string a few inches away from wall and then let it snap back, leaving a straight chalk line all the way up the wall.

One straight line is all it takes to line up a whole room full of wallpaper. Without a plumb line, the outcome of a project is questionable at best, and a total disaster at worst.

Likewise, the outcome of our lives hinges on whether or not we have a plumb line and whether or not we adhere to it. For me, my plumb line is Jesus Christ. As I look to him for guidance through the Bible and the Holy Spirit, I am assured over and over again that the efforts of my life are not in vain, and that the final outcome will be worthwhile.

If you've never felt this assurance, then I invite you to explore the truth of it yourself. God is very real. He's very alive. And He loves you very much. Our website The Ranch is designed to help you do just that. And after you've explored this truth, I hope you'll make a commitment to Christ, too, for it will give you confidence in the final outcome of your life, both here on earth, and on into eternity.  

(from my story "What's a Plumb Bob?" on 101sites.com)