“Aaaaah, Bertha, you’re always complaining about something! It’s the little things that you should overlook, and stop being such a problem by bothering everyone. We’ve spent millions of dollars on you, so don’t be such a big sourpuss!”
It’s easy to think that about Bertha, but just listen to the rest of the story.
Bertha is the “loving” name that has been given to the world’s largest tunnel-drilling machine. They are using this big machine to work under Seattle, Washington, a city with saltwater on the west and a freshwater lake on the east. There is just a little land in between the two bodies of water to put the main coastal roads through that join Canada with Mexico. Since the existing roadways are already stacked up, the plan was to put a 1.7-mile tunnel under the city.
Imagine the difficulties they are facing—groundwater and unstable sandy soil, and then the risk of hitting old well casings en route. Many of you boys and girls have dug holes in the ground or in sand and know how cave-ins can so easily happen.
Now Bertha was not made to travel backwards, so the first problems had to be handled outside from the front of the machine. They’d dig the sixty feet down in front of Bertha and send divers down to check things out. (I’m wondering what you would say to someone who wanted to dig up your front yard to put a “look-see” hole down for the tunnel. I can imagine that some people would be unhappy about that.) They are also drilling “de-watering “ wells, to relieve pressure on the machine.
Once Bertha hit a large boulder, and the soil around it was too soft to hold her firmly and allow the cutter head to crack the boulder apart. Sometimes they’d have to build a protective wall or a pit to hold back sand and groundwater to take care of the problem.
But today the problem wasn’t the unstable ground. It was just a tiny bit of sandy grit that had gotten into the bearings and shut down the huge, expensive operation. It will take several weeks, and maybe months, to repair Bertha!
Now you and I get bits of grit in our lives. That grit is called sins, and those sins will keep us out of heaven for sure. Either we let Jesus remove our grit of sins or we don’t let Him. He leaves the choice up to us. Come on, boys and girls; let’s get this matter settled before it’s too late! It isn’t hard, and it doesn’t take several weeks to correct the problem. Just tell Jesus in your own words that you are sorry for your sins and that you believe He loves you and died for you. He is waiting right now to hear from you, and He will wash every gritty sin away and make you His child forever.
The Lord Jesus keeps all His promises, because He says, “Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:3737All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. (John 6:37)). “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1:1818Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. (Isaiah 1:18)). And what’s so wonderful is that all these promises are from a God who “cannot lie” (Titus 1:22In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began; (Titus 1:2)).
Bertha actually started the digging in October 2013, and the fifty-eight-foot diameter tunnel is scheduled to be completed, hopefully, by the end of 2015. This will create a four-lane route for Highway 99 traffic.
They are solving Bertha’s grit problem, but what about yours? Get rid of that grit, boys and girls!
ML-05/25/2014