I've taken a liking to plumb bobs over the
years. I first used one when hanging wallpaper in our family dining
room.
A plumb bob is essentially a weight that hangs from a
string. (In case you wondered, the word plumb comes from the
Latin word for lead, because the weights had been made out of lead).
To
hang wallpaper, you need to have a straight line. But the walls of
old houses aren't always straight. So to find a true vertical
line as the starting point, you simply hang a weight on a string from the
ceiling to the floor.
My favorite part of using a plumb
bob is to take some colored chalk, rub it along the length of the string,
and then, while someone holds the string against the wall at the ceiling, I
hold the plumb bob against the wall near the floor. Then with my
other hand, I pull the string a few inches away from wall and then let it
snap back, leaving a straight chalk line all the way up the
wall.
One straight line is all it takes to line up a whole room full of wallpaper. Without a plumb line, the outcome of
a project is questionable at best, and a total disaster at
worst.
Likewise, the outcome of our lives hinges on whether or not we have a plumb line and whether
or not we adhere to it. For me, my plumb line is Jesus Christ.
As I look to him for guidance through the Bible and the Holy Spirit, I am
assured over and over again that the efforts of my life are not in vain, and that the
final outcome will be worthwhile.
If you've never felt this
assurance, then I invite you to explore the truth of it yourself. God is very real. He's very alive. And
He
loves you very much. Our website The
Ranch is designed to help you do just that. And after you've
explored this truth, I hope you'll make a commitment to Christ, too, for
it will give you
confidence in the final outcome of your life, both here on earth, and on into
eternity.