The Flaw

“So, if you think you’re standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall.” (I Corinthians 10:12)

Allow me to ask you how you’re doing spiritually.  Think you’re close to Christ?  Do you believe that your spiritual growth is flourishing?  Or do you think it’s possible that your walk with Christ might have one flaw that is just waiting to do damage to your spiritual life?  Because we are fallen human beings it is possible that each of us has a flaw in our nature that is a ticking clock, waiting to damage us spiritually.

It was “unsinkable” – so they said.  The immense passenger ship, RMS Titanic departed for its maiden voyage from Southampton, England on April 10, 1912.  After stops in Cherbourg, France, and Queenstown, Ireland, the ship set sail for New York with 2,240 passengers and crew.  In the early morning hours of April 15^th, the giant ship scraped along an iceberg.  It didn’t sink until hours later.  In the beginning, everything was still level, and the people continued with their activities. They indulged in their conversations, played cards, listened and danced as the band continued to play.  They gazed at the iceberg through the windows, thinking it had not done any damage to the ship.  But the damage was real, and within a matter of hours, the ship started to sink with many notable passengers aboard it, such as John Jacob Astor IV, the elderly owner of Macys, Isidor Straus, and the infamous Margaret Brown, better known as “The Unsinkable Molly Brown.” 

So, what was the real cause of this tragedy?  One thing.  The Titanic had a design flaw.  The ship featured a double bottom, and 15 watertight bulkhead compartments equipped with electric watertight doors that could be operated individually or simultaneously by a switch on the bridge.  But it was the watertight compartment design that contained the fatal flaw.  The walls that separated the bulkheads extended only a few feet above the water line, but not tall enough to cover the entire bulkhead.  This flaw made it easy for water to pour from one compartment into another, especially if the ship began to list or pitch forward.  In other words, the Titanic was not as watertight as it was thought to be.

It can easily be the same with our lives.  There could be a mortal flaw waiting to take us down at any moment.  It might be our pride, our selfishness, or our being over-sensitive.  It could be our critical spirit or our attitude toward others.  If our spiritual well-being is based on anything that is found in this world, our spiritual well-being is going to sink.  The only One who can sustain us in life, spiritually and otherwise, is Jesus Christ.  That is why it is essential that we keep short accounts with him, close communion with him, and intimate conversation with him.  Those are the only things that will keep our spiritual life afloat and protect us from any mortal flaws and wounds that could sink us. 

                                                    Darlene