skimming the surface

I was sitting by the pool this week, watching the leaves begin to fall and thinking that I needed to get up and skim the top of the pool. Leaves were floating along the surface and a few were being caught in the skimmer basket. But for the most part, if we don’t skim it, they will eventually collect and rot at the bottom of the pool. And then the chore is even harder. What could be avoided in 10 minutes of skimming, now has become a big job because we have to vacuum, which takes at least an hour.
And yet, even though I was thinking this through…that we should skim so we don’t have stuff collect down deep….I just sat there. I couldn’t make myself get up. I just enjoyed the cool breeze, watching the leaves fall and the heat of the sun tanning my skin. Basically, I was LAZY. I knew the right thing to do, but was too lazy to do it, and so now we have a pile of stuff at the bottom of the pool that has to be taken care of.
I laugh at my laziness and how it creates more work. In the pool, I guess it isn’t quite so big a issue, but the real deal is that we do the same thing in our lives. We sit in our lazy boys and see all that needs to be done and instead of engaging and doing it, we kick back until the job gets so big that it is overwhelming. This is also true of our spiritual journeys. We know the right things to do. If we would simply get up and do the everyday small tasks, then we would avoid the mess that gets down deep.
For instance, if we would discipline ourselves to be in the Word, pray without ceasing, take time away and evaluate, we could skim the surface daily. By doing the daily work of skimming the surface, we can then keep the issues from getting deep into our lives and making it more difficult to clean up. By skimming the surface daily, we avoid a mess down deep.
Now, don’t mistake this for merely skimming. Skimming doesn’t mean we gloss over or don’t do the deep seeded work that is needed. It doesn’t mean we won’t have to work on what lies beneath in the deep. It just means that perhaps it won’t be quite such a mess, won’t take so long and won’t be rotten because daily work has taken place. Skimming is hard work too. You have to choose to get up and do the daily work. You can’t wait to do the work. It requires discipline. It also means that you have to pay attention to what is on the surface and evaluate everyday. It means not letting anything just float along. It means being intentional to pay attention to what is going on and to deal immediately so it doesn’t get down deep and be a bigger issue.
So, how are we doing? Done any skimming lately? Or are you just sitting in your chair watching the stuff on the surface that needs to be dealt with but choosing to do nothing? Do you see that big pile down deep that needs to be dealt with, it is only going to get bigger if you don’t skim? Perhaps you need to run the vacuum and then choose to skim daily so that the work isn’t so overwhelming along the way.
Or perhaps you can keep doing things the way you have been…how’s that working for you? But sooner or later, you do have to get out of the chair. What you have to deal with is determined by the choices you make.
ALL FOR YOU