“A stone is heavy, and the sand weighty; but a fool’s wrath is heavier than them both.” Proverbs 27:3

A few summers ago my family and I visited Destin, Florida for vacation. We rented a house right on the beach and had an amazing time. As I recall that trip, we did a little bit of everything. We ate alligator (I don’t advise that by the way); we took long walks late at night; we even attempted to catch some marine life: sting rays, sand crabs, and alligators. None of them would comply, for which I was secretly grateful!

One afternoon on the beach I decided to show my kids what it would be like to be buried alive. So I started a discussion with my mischievous son Ethan about how I could bury him in this light, weak sand, and he would be captive. He, of course, responded with, “No way, Dad. Sand’s not that strong!” So with a little convincing, I began to bury him in the sand. At first he proudly quipped, “See dad, you can’t bury me in this stuff,” as he raised his foot or leg with no problem. I would calmly say, “Just wait and see.” As the sand started weighing on him, moving wasn’t quite so easy. Within a matter of moments he was unable to move at all. Ethan was crying, “Let me out!”

What seemed so light and easy and harmless quickly became heavy and fearsome and tough. Solomon compares two heavy things, stones and sand, and says that they are feathers in comparison with the immense lead-like weight of a man’s uncontrolled passions.

What is lighter than a grain of sand? What is heavier than a bagful of it? As the grains fall one by one, how easily they can be blown away! Let them gather, and they bury temples, and crush the solid masonry of pyramids. Sand is weighty. The accumulation of light things is overwhelmingly weighty. Are there any such things in our lives?

“Those who have no command of their passions, sink under the load.”—Matthew Henry