The Grandfather’s Clock

December 11, 2008

By Robert Ruesch

Bob and his wife Barb are members of our Ambassador Club
Read 1 Peter 5: 6-8

There is something about the sound of a grandfather’s clock chiming on the hour and reminding you of the quarter hour between; when the clock stops, the sound of time ceases and the silence of time remains.  Hushed becomes the quiet of time.

Recently we were at our friend’s house; they have a grandfather clock that has been silent for more then a decade – that bothered me.  It bothered me because; the clock – simply – was not designed to be silent, but there it stood, regal, hand made by Charlene’s grandfather, one of a pair for each sister; silent.

When we took a good look at the clock, we could see the polished pride of a grandfather’s love for his kin.  We could see the work of making the structure not only beautiful, but strong, sturdy and in many ways, stately.  Only one thing was wrong, the heart of the clock, the reason for its being, didn’t run.  There was no tick, no tock, no chimes, just a silent piece of beautiful wood taking up wall space with no functionality. Pretty as the grandfather clock was, it didn’t have a purpose except to say, “well, my grandfather made it for me, but it isn’t working now, it did at one time – but not now.”

That got me wondering if, Charlene’s husband and I – for her birthday and their anniversary, could get it running.

The clock had been moved from Texas to Colorado and back to Texas again, so it should have run! After all it ran in Texas before all the moves. Curt and I took the back off, attached the chains, hung the weights, set the pendulum and started it swinging!  To our surprise, the clock started ticking, tick, tock over and over again, the hands moved the chimes chimed – we were really proud of our selves, until it stopped after less than 5 minutes.  Darn, we thought we had it solved.

We tried everything, leveling the structure, gently blowing the dust out of the clock works, making sure the chains were on right and not hanging up. Nothing worked.  It seemed the heart of the clock just was not going to run more then 5 to 7 minutes.  By the way, the chimes and gongs sounded great, when it worked.

Finally we tried one other thing, we checked to see if the clock works were level, they were not!  After several tries we had the mechanism level.  Again we swung the pendulum, tick, tock, tick, tock – the clock sounded different –  the sound of the ticking was more solid, more even, more in rhythm that it had ever been, and it ran, ran for 10 minutes, then 20, then 30.  Two hours later – still running and it is still running!

What was the difference?  A simple theological concept, when your heart is right (level) with God, you are in sync (in time) with His will.  When you are not level with God, you run sometimes, and then quit.  Then your pendulum of commitment has to be pushed to start again, and again.

Like Charlene’s clock her grandfather made for her, we need to level with God, confess our sins, lay our cares and concerns at His altar. Then, and only then, do we find our heart, like the grandfather clock, ticks on and on and on and on, because we are level with Him.

Oh, and when we confess our sorrows, concerns and cares, it is like the clock, He takes them and allows us to continue running. When we don’t do that the weight of our burdens causes us not to run, we simply stop until we lift our heavy weight and give it to him.

Now the house sounds with the passing of time every 15 minutes, chimes every hour. Our lives can be ringing out the joy, blessings, grace and a clarion call of time passing before our Lord comes to claim His church, and we will run for eternity.

Posted by RVchurchesUSA | Filed Under Spiritual Growth 

Comments

No Comments Yet.

Got something to say?





Exclusively for RVers

Find campgrounds offering nondenominational church services, get resources to help grow your Christian faith, check road conditions, weather & much more .... start here

The Ambassador Club

Do you have a passion to serve the spiritual needs of the RV Community? This Club is just for you! Join others all over the USA who are fulfilling their passion ... check it out

Articles