Gabby's Ground Rules

Fall has always been a busy time of year for me. When I was on the farm, harvest time meant late and sometimes all nights in the field. We wanted to get things done before the weather turned bad. Then when I spent a few years as a contractor, I found myself facing similar deadlines as I desired to finish outside work before the bitter cold of winter set in. Now as a pastor, I get to work from a nice heated office most of the time. Now that is not the reason that I went into the ministry, but it does have its perks.
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Still, I have that desire to get things finished up outside before the snow flies. One of my goals this fall was to have the garden all tilled up and ready for winter. Once this goal was met, I sat back with a sigh of relief. The feeling inside of me was actually more than relief. As I looked at the deep black dirt of the garden, all tilled and ready, I felt a sense of pride. Of course the familiar Proverb says that pride goes before a fall. This actually comes from Proverbs 16:18 which says, “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.” I should have known better, I have preached against pride.
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So how could tilling up the garden possibly humble a man? I would like to introduce you to Gabby Groundhog. No I did not kill him as I worked in the garden, but I should have called him before I planned to dig. I heard the ads on the radio about Gabby’s Ground Rules: always make the Iowa One call before you dig. I did not. Furthermore, I had decided to make the garden a bit bigger, and tilled up an area that had not been tilled before, and that is where the phone line was. Yep, not only had I taken out our phone service, but I had cut the line to our neighbors across the alley as well. My wife enjoys reading the “Great Goofs” sections in the back of my handyman magazine, and she tried to make me feel better by reminding me of what others had done.
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We found out later that the line was only seven inches deep, and some have tried to make me feel better by saying that it should have been deeper. That did not help as I went to bed that night realizing what I had done. By the time I realized my mistake, it was around 10 p.m. so it was too late to call for repairs and I had no idea how many others were without a phone. I went to bed feeling really guilty. I told my wife that I would feel better in the morning once I was able to call the phone company and admit to them what I had done. I was up early and called the phone company and listened to a recording that said they would open at 7:30. I called then, reported what had happened, and immediately felt better.
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I had learned long ago, that confession is the best way to deal with guilt. Now cutting the phone line was not a sin. Iowa law does not even require the Gabby call for gardening. Still I felt bad about it until it was taken care of. How much more shouldn’t we feel that way about sin and our relationship with God. Proverbs 28:13 warns, “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.”
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Jesus Christ did not die on the cross to fix phone lines. He did not even die in order to make all our problems go away, but He did die to take care of our sins. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I John 1:9.
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I feel good knowing the phone line is fixed, but I feel even better knowing that all my sins have been fixed. I no longer have to worry about the penalty or guilt of sin. Anyone who has truly surrendered to the Lord, trusting Christ alone as Savior, can truly say, “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.” Psalm 103:12. That is why I am able to sleep at night.