Last week a friend was cutting my yard when he started to hear a strange sound. As he listened, the sound became louder in a certain part of the yard.

So he reached down and pulled up some grass…

And discovered a water pipe had developed a leak!

The pipe itself had actually become rusted and corroded, which led to it’s breaking. We turned off the water, and called a plumber who could help fix the problem.

The next morning the plumber came, and I bought a new length of pipe, along with some fittings. Because the pipe had to be delivered, I wasn’t ready till Friday evening.

Early Saturday morning I anxiously watched the plumber and his son install the new pieces, ready to have my water back on. Finally everything was installed, and they told me to turn on the water inside.

I turned on the kitchen faucet

And walked outside to see water spraying in the air

There was another leak!

They began digging up other piping, and it quickly became clear that every piece of pipe in the front yard leading to the back of the house had become completely corroded. It was possible to fix the second leak, but the other pipes would go bad far too quickly. They actually broke off pieces of it by hitting the pipe with a hammer.

Thankfully this is the landlords problem so he will be able to decide how to replace the water pipes. But the situation was an important reminder to me that small problems often are symptoms of a bigger issue.

That small leak can be symbolic of a small sin issue (lets say anger) that by itself doesn’t seem very serious. But that anger problem is usually connected to a much deeper issue. And once we start investigating, large amounts of rust and corrosion because of sin are discovered.

So we must pay attention to the small leaks

Because they reveal the deeper problems