Parallels: Home and Spiritual Renovation—Water and Plumbing—The gift, p-traps, & leaks
The Gift
Water is one of the essential substances of life…and a fantastic gift from God! Without water, humans cannot survive for more than a few days. I am grateful that my wife and I live in an area with clean water and an excellent municipal sewage treatment system. We made plans for future guests and visitors in our home renovation, including water access. Our design included a new bathroom and kitchen on the lower level.
Humans also have a deep spiritual thirst. We spend our lives looking high and low for anything or anyone who can quench that thirst. We sometimes drink things that temporarily dampen that soul's thirst. Still, eventually, we come back to square one: parched and empty.
There once was an outcast woman soul-parched from years of multiple broken relationships. When she came to a well in the midday heat, Jesus approached her and offered her a new kind of water. He answered her questions with this response:
"If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water…Everyone who drinks this (well) water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life." (from the Gospel of John, chapter 4)
Authentic soul renovation can only happen by experiencing the living water of God in the person of Jesus Christ. This is the only true and free gift to satisfy our soul's thirst—now and forever.
P-Traps
Our house already had toilet, sink, and shower drain connections in the concrete floor of the unfinished basement, and the plumbing/water supply was also easily accessible. I planned the locations of the bathroom and kitchen fixtures based on the existing locations of the plumbing waste drain connections. The plumbing I installed included "P-traps— U-shaped pipe assemblies that act as safeguards to prevent harmful sewer gas and wastewater from entering the house.
We also need spiritual safeguards to prevent toxic forces and messages from entering our lives.
The Bible instructs us to guard our hearts, minds, and beings so we don't give in to things that may look safe and sweet but are actually poisonous and deadly— spiritually and physically. Spiritual "P traps" are practices and safeguards God provides to shield us from poisonous forces that could derail, trap, and harm us. Here are some p-traps that I have adopted:
Daily time in God's presence: The best way to avoid or get out of toxic spiritual entanglements is to experience and nurture our relationship with God each day. God hears our prayers and cries for help, and He will answer us out of His love for you and me.
Re-orienting our minds. Learning to yield our thoughts to Christ throughout the day opens the door for Him to change us and lift our thinking to the higher things of God.
Re-aligning our affections. When we open our hearts to Jesus each day, we will become more and more aware of His purpose, care, and provision for us.
Giving God leadership over what we take in. This involves bringing God into the day-to-day decisions and "diet" of things you watch, read, or participate in. Asking God to "lead us not into temptation" also means following His lead when He tells us to avoid a situation, show, website, or group.
To be clear, God can rescue us from the worst pits we have fallen into! However, I have found it's much better to avoid those pitfalls by creating daily spiritual "P-traps" to prevent toxic spiritual things from entering our being.
No leaks
I planned and installed the water supply lines (hot and cold) to the sinks, shower, and toilet. I took my time to carefully measure, cut, fit, and then join the various components of our plumbing system. I also created a manifold shutoff panel in case there was a need to turn off the water to any particular basement area. After completing the work, I turned the water on for each location and checked for leaks. I found one fitting under the bathroom sink that had a little water seeping from a connection, and it was easily fixed by tightening the fitting. Doing this ensured that water would flow to the right places: the sinks, shower, and toilet.
Like leaks in a building, sin not confessed and dealt with before God will create big problems and dampen our relationship with Him and other people. To be clear, all our sins have been paid for by Jesus. As humans, however, we still miss the mark and need to regularly acknowledge our failings before God to receive His grace, forgiveness, and restoration. God also asks us to go to others we have hurt and do our part to bring peace and healing when we have wronged them.
I pray you will experience the living water of God's presence and enjoy His precious gift.
God bless you!
Chris Atkins