No Rust

No one in our family has a pickup truck.
That does not mean I cannot appreciate a nice looking truck when I see one.
I know that truck owners take pride in their trucks.
Their trucks haul things, tow things, and provide needed support on the road.

I was behind one such truck when I was driving.
It was white and seemed to have all the bells and whistles.
It had a trailer hitch on the back.
It had a large flatbed.

Truck drivers are special people.
I used to think that uniqueness applied only to JEEP drivers.
I remember their slogan: It’s a JEEP thing.
Perhaps there should be such a slogan for truck drivers as well.

We all know that one person who has a truck.
They are always the one someone calls if they have to transport something large or heavy.
They are always willing to help.
They seem to like the fact that their truck is able to get the job done.

Driving behind this beautiful white truck, I saw something on the bumper.
Rust.
The rust seemed so out of place.
Everything about this truck showed that it was taken care of very well.

I wondered how the rust got there.
I wondered if the rust on the bumper bothered the owner.
I wondered if the rust was something the owner expected to happen over time.
I wondered if the rust could be removed.

As I drove, I began to ponder rust.
It was a silly thing to think about while I was driving.
I decided that I would research rust a bit.
I wanted to see what causes rust, scientifically of course.

Have you ever seen a really old car that’s been sitting abandoned for a number of years? If so, it was probably reddish-brown and flaking in many places. Those spots where the metal has corroded are called rust. But what exactly is rust? Rust is usually used to refer to a very common, reddish-brown compound called iron oxide. Iron oxide is formed when iron and oxygen react in the presence of water or moisture in the air. Iron oxide is very common, because iron reacts easily with oxygen in the air. In fact, it reacts so readily with oxygen that it’s actually very rare to find pure iron in nature. Rust can also refer to the reaction of iron and chloride in an underwater environment. This can sometimes be seen on rebar used in underwater pillars. Over time, green rust will appear on these pillars as the iron reacts with chloride in the water. Rust occurs when iron or its alloys, such as steel, corrode. The surface of a piece of iron will begin to corrode first in the presence of oxygen and water. Given enough time, any piece of iron will change entirely into rust and disintegrate.
(https://wonderopolis.org/wonder/why-do-some-things-rust)

We all know what rust looks like and can probably think of things that have rusted.
I remember being told not to leave my bike outside in the rain.
I remember the fender of my bike had rusted in places.
The rust on my bike fender went deep; it was not something that could be easily removed.

Rust is not a surface thing.
Rust will form with the right conditions and the right amount of time.
Left untreated, the rusted object will disintegrate.
It will disintegrate over time.

I thought of all of this as I drove behind the truck.
By all appearances, the truck was new and fully equipped.
However, conditions caused the metal bumper to rust.
The rust seemed incongruous with the rest of the truck.

I thought of something my mother used to say quite frequently.
Don’t let any grass grow under your feet.
I remember asking her what that expression meant when I heard it the first time.
I still remember her explanation.

If something sits in one place too long, grass begins to grow underneath it. If someone says that no grass grows under your feet, that is a compliment. It means you are not standing around doing nothing. You are being productive.

Productive.
I always loved that word.
Productive does not mean being busy just for the sake of being busy.
Productive means being effective and yielding results.

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge;  and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:5-8)

We do not want grass to grow under out feet on our spiritual journey.
We want to be productive for God’s Kingdom.
We want to yield results as we grow in our knowledge of Him.
When no grass grows under our feet, we are moving and growing in Christ.

We do not want to stay busy in Kingdom work just for the sake of being busy.
We do not want to stay busy just to keep up appearances.
If the grass grows under our spiritual feet it means that we have become stagnant.
It means that we have become complacent and lazy in our spiritual walk.

Get moving!
There is work to be done.
Allow no grass to grow under your feet.
Allow no rust to form.

Rust is not a surface thing.
Rust will form with the right conditions and the right amount of time.
Left untreated, the rusted object will disintegrate.
It will disintegrate over time.

We do not want our spiritual lives to disintegrate.
Any rust that forms will go down deep if left untreated.
Get moving!
There is work to be done all to His glory.

Saddle up your horses!
We’ve got a trail to blaze!
No grass under our feet!
No rust!