A Lesson on the Fence | Previous Challenge Entry

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TITLE: A Lesson on the Fence | Previous Challenge Entry
By Marilyn Borga
07/27/23
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I recently replaced the fifty-year-old sagging chainlink fence that surrounded my backyard. Invasive vines and weeds had overrun the rusted, neglected eyesore. Some sections were so vine-covered that you couldn’t see through them. A decades-long lack of maintenance had taken the fence past the point of repair.

After a few weeks, I’d installed the new fence and could gaze with satisfaction at the fruit of my back-breaking labor. With its sturdy upright posts and straight, snug lines of shiny metal mesh fabric, it was a vast improvement. This practical, straightforward barrier would protect my yard and garden while allowing me a clear view of the alley and the surrounding properties. I vowed to be more vigilant than my property’s previous owners had been.

But it wasn’t long before I noticed Virginia creeper and wild morning glory vines snaking up my shining, pristine fence. I yanked each offender out by the roots and tossed them away in disgust. As the summer days rushed by like the cars on a freight train, I got too busy to give my fence more than a glance. Then one morning, I noted with chagrin that the leafy green vegetation was back in full force, taking over multiple sections of my fence.

Once again, I rooted out the offensive plants at ground level. I expected it to be easy to pull off the spiraling green tendrils, but the vines grew in a tangled mass and clung tenaciously to the crisscrossing wires. I couldn’t tell what direction to pull. Every few inches, they broke off, and I’d have to start over. It was a long and tedious job.

As I worked, I began to see the mess on my fence as an illustration of the confusion in the world today. Whether in science, politics, or the church, people don’t know who or what to believe. If we look closely, we can see that where there is confusion, there is usually one big lie that is the base upon which all the others stand. Like the vines that twist their way upward and block my view through the fence, these foundational lies obscure the truth.

The false premise that there is no God leads to the idea that all creation came about by chance. Somehow, we’re to believe that the order seen in nature came out of chaos. The Creator God is deemed unnecessary. If we humans are, as science claims, evolving into more perfect and intelligent beings, then why does everything look so bleak?

A politician will spout whatever he thinks will help him get elected. Then, when he sees that the opposite view will gain him an advantage, he flip-flops and throws integrity out the window. Soon no one knows who to trust.

Confusion in the church abounds any time it questions the authority of God.

“Did God really say?”

“Yes, actually, He did,” I will confidently answer the cunning serpent’s question. God did speak the truth to Adam and Eve. And He speaks to us, too, through the prophets, the apostles, and His Spirit. Satan is the great deceiver and the father of lies, but it is through Jesus Christ that we can find truth. Ironically, when Pontius Pilate asked, “What is truth?” he was looking the embodiment of truth right in the eye.

So what shall we do when the world’s conflicting messages bombard us? We must stay diligent in keeping the weeds of deception from taking root. The Bible, the inspired word of God, is a firm foundation. When we study the Word, believe it, and trust its promises, we may ask God for discernment. He will clear away the obstructions and help us to see through the lies.

***
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:14-17 (NIV)

How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word. Psalm 119: 9 (NIV)

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