The Sin of Engineers

As I was reading about the great King Hezekiah in 2 Chronicles 32, it occurred to me that for all of the good and great things he accomplished in his life, he was an engineer at heart. In one short verse (30) we read that Hezekiah constructed a tunnel to bring water from the Gihon Springs down to the Pool of Siloam in Jerusalem. Sounds simple -- but it was actually something of an ancient engineering marvel as it must have taken some serious math and technical skill to have workers dig from opposite ends of the tunnel only to meet perfectly in the middle while maintaining a precise 0.6% grade all the way from beginning to end. This tunnel still exists today. It's little wonder that the princes of Babylon sent to "inquire of the wonder that was done in the land," and that Hezekiah's heart was, as a result, lifted up in pride toward the end of his life.

As I think of Hezekiah the engineer, I am reminded of the ever present danger of falling into the same trap of pride amidst all of our technical achievements. I believe it to be the besetting sin of engineers in general. There can be such a dependence on our own ingenuity, that we can drift into a mode of self-dependence -- thinking ourselves more highly than we ought to think.

The great need of the hour is to maintain a spirit of GRATITUDE and HUMILITY amidst all of our advances.

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