The folly of foolishness …

I was absolutely flabbergasted this morning when I first saw the photo posted above.

Why in the world would someone build a home situated so that the garage is blocked by a very large tree?

A few possibilities ran through my mind …

Maybe the tree was protected by some law and the owner couldn’t have it removed.

Or maybe the owner of the land was a conservationist and didn’t want the tree removed.

Perhaps the owner thought they would be able to have the tree removed, went ahead with construction of the home, and later was denied the ability to remove the tree.

Or … different possibilities bounced around my brain, but the fast question in response to them all was the thought, “Why didn’t the homeowner just reverse the floor plan of the home so the garage was built on the other side of the property? By reversing the floor plan, the tree wouldn’t block the garage!”

I don’t know the story that resulted in this home having its garage blocked by an intimidating, mature tree, but it appears as though the outcome is the consequences of someone’s foolishness, of failing to plan for something very obvious! Even if the original homeowner doesn’t mind having a towering tree blocking his garage, the presence of that tree will affect the future value of this property should he or she ever try to sell the home.

Would you buy this house with that tree located where it is?

Some people like to tempt foolishness, such as those who trifle with eating pufferfish. The pufferfish looks about as threatening as a pet goldfish but it carries deadly toxins that can kill a person after just a few bites of puffer sashimi. Every year several people in Japan die from eating this unique fish delicacy and many others get sick. The danger is so great that Japanese chefs must receive years of training to learn the intricate skills of removing the lethal toxin before they can be certified to serve puffer. Flirting with sin is not only foolish, it can be fatal.

With death being the result of sin, such behavior fosters only deep regret and pain that we are powerless to do anything about. Only through confession and repentance can we gain access to the grace of God over the foolishness of our sin, and hope He will be merciful with us as we endure facing what havoc our sin has caused. God wants to transform our minds so that we no longer are slaves to the foolishness of sin, but can be changed to have the mind of Christ.

Have you given up the foolishness of sin, or are you still flirting with foolishness?

Scotty