The Plumbline

“Thus he shewed me: and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumbline, with a plumbline in his hand.
And the Lord said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumbline. Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel: I will not again pass by them any more:” Amos 7:7-8.

The Minor Prophet book of Amos may seem obscure but it is filled with a wealth of teaching! One such nugget is this passage regarding a plumbline. Have you ever heard one sermon on the plumbline?

This summer, we had a dear lady in our church pass away. Some of the family were devout Christians, (even in full-time ministry), others were on the fence and, some, were decidedly, non-Christian, although they had been presented God’s plan of salvation and see it demonstrated in some of their family on a daily basis. Her “Celebration” funeral was one to behold! My pastor chose this passage of scripture to preach on and, being a collector of “antique tools”, he dug through his tool boxes and found several plumblines that he had collected over the years to use as illustrations. While I take no credit for his wonderful message, I would like to share several thoughts that really impressed me and that I hope will provoke your thoughts, as well!

A plumbline is a cord with a pointed, weighted end (called a plumb bob) that is used to determine verticality, such as the corner of a building or a fence post. The point of the bob marks the exact measurement.

My pastor’s first illustration was with a perfect plumbline. The string was anchored into the top and as the bob was suspended, it gave a true and accurate measurement. (You can see this by the arrow I drew on the pavement beside it.) Any object lined up with this would be ideally straight. Even a hodgepodge of stones, if stacked even with the plumbline, would result in a straight, vertical line. This is a picture of a Christian lining up with God. We cannot be perfect in this earthly body but, we can be perfectly lined up with God’s truth. Our desire should be to line up as closely as we can with Him. The Bible is our ruler to determine if we are measuring up!

The second plumbline was a little wonky! The bob was perfect but, the string was not attached properly. Apparently, it had been pulled off and was just tied around the neck of the bob, causing the bob to tilt to one side. (Look how off-centered the plumb bob is.) Do you see how this relates to some Christians? Perhaps they followed Christ in every aspect of their life at one time but, one day, they either cut the cord or slowly let it fray or rot away! They want to be in control of their own life–they want to be the puppeteer trying to manipulate God so, they tie the cord of life in an unsuitable way to the bob. In this case, attaching themselves to God. They refuse to accept what God teaches through His word. Tying the cord around the neck of the bob will never produce a perfect plumbline. It will be slightly off. It might look close but it will never be perfect. Their attitude is that they are going to do it their way, regardless of what the Bible teaches! I see this often in people who claim to be a Christian but rejecting God’s way to salvation, (“I’ll pick and choose what I believe!”), in their appearance, (“No one’s going to tell me what I can wear, how many tattoos or piercings I want, or who I want to emulate!”) and also in their choses (“God’s not gonna send me to hell because I take a drink occasionally or smoke, or, who has heard this one?–“We live in modern times so I can live with a “significant other”. After all, we love each other!”) They want to be attached to heaven but not live their life in synchrony with God.

The last plumb bob was not attached to a string at all. Of course, this would be like the unsaved person. They are not anchored in Christ and have no attachment to a heavenly home nor a God to call upon. God is there. He is reaching out to them with the free gift of salvation! He does not attach the string of a person’s life Himself. He is there, ready for that person to accept his forgiveness and gift of eternal life. There is only one way! Relating that to the bob, it only has one tiny hole in the top to thread the cord into.

In many ways, these illustrations reminded me of the sower and the seed:

Some seed was devoured by the birds.

“And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:” Matthew 13:4.

I think of the bright lights of this world snatching one’s mind and desires away. These have heard the truth but before they can act upon it, they have had those spiritual thoughts snatched away as their mind forgets about it. They never accept Christ, their “spiritual plumb bob.”

Some seed was sown on stoney ground.

“Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.” Matthew 13:5-6.

Are we failing to ground new Christians in the Word? Either they don’t come to the point of a saving knowledge of Christ or never grow. Maybe this could be compared to a cord loosely laying beside the plumb bob! It needs to be attached.

Some seed was choked by the thorns.

“And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:” Matthew 13:7.

Whether one is overwhelmed by the “brass ring”, family responsibilities or, even a lack of understanding, some succumb to the pressures or teachings of the world. The world’s ideas overgrow and take root. Are they a Christian or a thorn? They might profess to be a Christian but they are trying to manipulate God by their own desires.

Lastly, some seed fell on good ground and did everything characteristic of that seed!

“But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.” Matthew 13:8.

It took root and it grew! this seed was aligned with its purpose to do what it was suppose to do!

Is your plumbline attached properly?