When One Plus One Equals Zero

by Joyce Sykes
Published March 23, 2007

A friend and I were laughingly comparing human actions to those of the animal kingdom the other day. It began with the comment “I hate to eat crow,” referring speaking rashly and then having to return to the recipient of our words and apologizing for our verbal sin. We were quick to acknowledge that when we are not careful, it was more like being an old jersey milk cow chewing the cud. It is definitely no secret that having to re-chew our words a second time makes them taste even worse than at the beginning.

Somehow, the conversation turned to earthworms, and the fact that they have multiple hearts. They live such a simple life crawling on the ground or digging through the dirt and always leave the area richer for having been there. These tiny creatures fulfill their God-giving task quite efficiently. They never seem to take offense at others and are quite content to make slow steady progress towards that next mouthful of dirt. They also have the marvelous trait of being able to regenerate a new tail in the event of losing one. Now in reality, only the end with the head attached as this marvelous ability, the tail section will wither and die.

Towards the end of this part of our conversation, I remembered the sight of multiple dead earthworms lying on sidewalks in the heat of the summer. Any unfortunate worm that attempts to cross the super sun-heated concrete will dry out at an alarming rate quickly bringing death to this small creature. In their natural habitat, earthworms fare very well. However, when a worm begins to crawl on the man-made structure, he is playing with his life.

That simple reality holds true for us as well. When we are moving forward completing our call in life, we leave that area and the people around it richer. Young stay-at-home moms may never see the full fruit of their endeavors, but each day they are able to plant love and security with their simple actions. Store clerks may brighten the lives of some of their patrons as they allow their ‘light’ to shine. Our jobs may not be critical in the light of eternity, but our actions are.

However, just as with our simple friend the earthworm; we must stay in those areas created for us by the Lord. We can’t rush ahead or lag behind without it creating hardships or chaos. God-given environment produces life for not only us but for those around us. However, when we crawl onto man-made devices, no matter how good they are, it will bring death in a slow and agonizing way.

The same was true for the Israelites. These men and women had seen the Lord’s divine help in freeing them from slavery. Yet as soon as Moses delayed in coming down from the mountain, they began to cry out for something man-made. As Aaron created the golden calf, he also created the very thing that would bring death to his people. As long as they stayed within the boundaries created for them by the Lord, they were safe. Yet their actions of worshipping this man-made devise brought swift judgment. The Levites drew their swords and killed three thousand that day. Their actions of bowing down before the golden calf brought death.

The same was true on King David’s first attempt to restore the Ark to it’s rightful place. No one sought the God’s method of carrying the Ark from one place to another. So following the example of the Philistines, they placed the Ark on a wooden cart draw by oxen. The result was disastrous. Uzzah reached out, touched the Ark, and instantly dropped dead. This group of men had followed the leading of men, instead of the leading of Jehovah.

That is true even today. Men follow the leading of others without consulting The Book. Too often, we fail to realize that it must be God’s way, no matter how good another way may seem. The other way is like the concrete on a hot summer day and will bring only a slow agonizing death. We die a slow agonizing death of separating our self from the very One we are attempting to follow.

Man-made equals death, God’s way equals life but when you place man-made ahead of God’s way, everyone loses in the end. Today may you find the path He has laid out for you. May you leave that area richer as you move forward in His perfect timing.

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