Sermon Central
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When I Was A Youth Living In South Texas, We Had ...
Contributed by Ken Pell on Mar 22, 2009 (message contributor)
When I was a youth living in south Texas, we had … a fireplace. And we used it in the winter. REALLY! Those 60 degree winter nights can chill the bones ya know!!!!
Well, guess who split most on the firewood we used … me. Dad helped … sometimes. But mostly what dad did was teach me how to do it and then let me at it. I learned some lessons about splitting firewood that have become rather important these days living up here in the North Country. I learned that sometimes the splitting maul was not the best tool to use. Often times, when you are working on a big log, all the splitting maul does is bounce back at you. You can bang and bang to no avail. I also learned that using wedges and a sledge required some skill too. You see, like the maul, you can start the wedge and hit it hard and the wedge will just bounce right out too!
My dad showed me the key to splitting the difficult wood. You take the wedge, you place it right in the heart of the log … right where there will hopefully be a few hairline cracks coming out of the heart and you methodically drive the wedge into the heart of the log by rapping on it; not with one big fatal down swing. Eventually, even those big ones would split by taking small methodical raps into the heart of the log.
Some people are that way. If God’s Spirit comes with one crushing blow they can deflect it … but God’s Spirit knows that on those he must patiently drive love’s truth deep into the heart before it gives.
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