✝ Daily Encouragement (12/5/23) "The Indispensable Plumber"

Published: Tue, 12/05/23

A daily, Bible-based perspective of hope, encouragement and exhortation. The online Bible teaching ministry of Stephen & Brooksyne Weber.

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Tuesday, December 5, 2023

We passed this truck in Lebanon County. We see several old trucks decorated this way as we travel about. They must pull them out the barn for the seasonal decorations.

"The Indispensable Plumber"

Message summary: Today let us value all work that benefits others, including the plumber. "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord" (Colossians 3:23).

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"The rest of the deeds of Hezekiah and all his might and how he made the pool and the conduit and brought water into the city, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?" (2 Kings 20:20). "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord" (Colossians 3:23).

This last week we have had a lot of work on our house addition, including HVAC, electrical and plumbing. Electrical and HVAC are fairly recent innovations in human history but mankind has always had to deal with some kind of plumbing, getting fresh water and disposing of waste.

For several days last week we had plumbers out for our home addition and they finished the rough-in Thursday morning. The main plumber is Brent, who shares the same last name with me, although we are not related. He is a friendly man with wit. Most plumbers have some good stories.

He told me of a time early in his career when he and another plumber were working on the drain lines in an office building with lady workers. He walked into the office and said, "Ladies, we are going to be working on the drain lines so we need to ask you not to use the toilet till we come back". They all nodded that they understood.

He got back to work. Well, he had taken the drain line apart and was working under it when he heard the noise every plumber knows, the sound of gurgling up the line indicating a toilet had been flushed. He managed to clear out before getting dumped on! Afterwards he went back in to inform the ladies what happened and one sheepishly acknowledged she was the culprit. From that point on he took other measures to prevent a rather messy situation.

Plumbers are on the front lines of public health. If your plumbing stops working you can easily have a crisis and a mess (both in your body and in your house).

Indoor plumbing is one of the taken for granted blessings of modern living. Fresh potable water coming into your house and running through it, essentially invisible, till needed. Then a system to get the waste water out. If you are really blessed you even have hot water! But if either the inflow or the outflow stops working you will quickly realize the value of the plumber.

Indoor plumbing is a relatively recent innovation in human history. My grandparents on Mom's side did not have indoor plumbing in their small house in Harwood Missouri till they were in their 60's and Brooksyne's grandparents, who lived in the Arkansas mountains, were in their 70's.

My dad, who was a plumber among other trades he had learned at the prestigious SOHK*, installed their indoor plumbing, including an indoor bathroom, when he and Mom got married in the mid-1940's.

In my childhood they still had the old water cistern with a hand pump beside the house although we were told to never drink from it. But they still maintained and used the old three-seater outhouse all through my childhood in the late 50's and 60's. It was especially helpful when we had large family gatherings! We consider how many now in America have never used an old-fashioned outhouse, though many of them have used a porta-pottie!

King Hezekiah was one of the good kings who did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. In the record of his life we read, "The rest of the deeds of Hezekiah and all his might are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?" (2 Kings 20:20).

However injected into this sentence is something the historian apparently recognized as notable enough to include concerning Hezekiah: "how he made the pool and the conduit and brought water into the city". In reading through our Bible we may tend to gloss over this detail but it was a significant achievement. The populace surely valued this plumbing innovation!

Today let us value all work that benefits others, including the work of the plumber. "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord" (Colossians 3:23).

Be encouraged today, Hebrews 3:13

Stephen & Brooksyne Weber

Daily prayer: Father, Scripture indicates that You want us to serve diligently, not carelessly. When we work heartily we can be a blessing to our employer, supervisor and co-workers and we honor You as well. We want to be whole-hearted instead of doing just enough to get by as we go about our work. There are those duties we enjoy and those which are done of necessity. Help us to remember that we add dignity to our work when we apply ourselves fully to the task before us, no matter how menial. All work is sacred when it done not just for the boss, not just for the pay check, not just for the title but when we do it heartily for You. Amen.

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Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources

* SOHK stands for "School of Hard Knocks" which if you've never heard of is "the experience gained from living, especially from disappointment and hard work, regarded as a means of education".

"Jesus Does" Watch on YouTube We The Kingdom (No relation to message but a good reminder and encouraging song)

Sam is a friendly, colorful man we visit with at White Oak display. We are used to his handlebar mustache and full beard but his pin-striped railroader overalls caught our attention this visit!

Friday morning we had the rough-in for our HVAC split unit installed. I regularly see Dave and Juan at the shop before they head out so it was nice to see them on the field! They've worked together for years and it's an interesting dynamic to see a long-time Lancaster County farm boy working with a Puerto Rican transplant from the Bronx.

Entering Sunset Grocery in Lebanon County, PA we are blessed with a Scripture verse.

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Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. and the King James Version.

Personal Mission Statement: "I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ I have been redeemed and make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity."

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Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
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495 Kraybill Church Rd
Mount Joy PA 17552
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