When I walked by the fence recently, I thought to myself, again, when we get time, we need to fix that. Yes, that is exactly what you think it is — duct tape! It really is a wonder tape and in West Virginia, we hold most things together with it, here the fence, but also sometimes our lives.
The duct tape on this fence right here was a quick solution to a cracked board with a promise to come back and fix made over a year ago. As you can see, between time and life, we’re a little slow to repair, but really, if a patch works why fix it…because it is still broken. Despite being held together with a bit of adhesive on some tape, the board is still cracked and about to break. And as you can see, if the initial problem is not fixed, it doesn’t matter how much adhesive, how much we patch, mend, or reinforce with tape, glue, a band aid, the repair job will eventually fall off and we’re left with the underlying problem, the board is still cracked.
Isn’t that like so much in our lives? We just put a band aid over our sin, or sew on a patch, make a promise to fix it or deal with it later and then later only comes when the crack in the board becomes a break.
The one who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.
Proverbs 28:13
Just like the broken boards in our lives that we’ve taped up, when we conceal the brokenness caused by the sin in our lives, we will cannot prosper. The Hebrew word for prosper means to advance, move forward, to thrive. Unrepentant sin, the kind we patch with a band aid so no one sees but is still there, blocks our prosperity. It blocks our ability to truly move forward. Why so? Because we know, deeper down in our hearts where sin can take up residence, that underneath the tape, what we see on the outside, what we cover up with, what we prop ourselves up with, the board is still cracked.
But getting to the heart of the matter, taking the duct tape off, actually removing the cracked board and putting in a new board, brings mercy. And that’s the link, repentance, admitting there’s a crack or a break, taking out the old board and replacing it with a new board gives God a channel to work in our lives and for us to flourish. Although confession of sin, admitting that we fall short of God’s standards, stating out loud that we are cracked and broken is hard and time consuming. But the duct tape is only a temporary solution, it really just covers up the problem, and as you can see in the picture, eventually that band aid will fall off. We can only cover and patch up our sin so much. When it comes right down to it, we need to fix our broken and that can only be done by getting rid of it and turning from it.
Have mercy on me, O God,
because of your unfailing love.
Because of your great compassion,
blot out the stain of my sins.
Wash me clean from my guilt.
Purify me from my sin.
For I know my wrongdoings, And my sin is constantly before me.
Psalm 51:1-3
The Hebrew meaning of mercy is compassion, unfailing love, goodness, loving kindness. We serve a God of mercy, compassion, and loving kindness who wants us to prosper and flourish and thrive. This can only be done if we rip off the duct tape, take care of the broken board, and open up the route for his mercy and grace to freely flow in our lives.
The faithful love of the Lord never ends, his mercies never cease.
Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.
Lamentations 3:22-23