Pay Dirt
This Article was inspired by the Klondike Gold Rush of 1896-1899, where some 100,000 prospectors set out to seek their fame and fortune, but only some 30,000 actually finally arrived in the Klondike, and of these, only some 4,000 actually found gold. Sort of reminds you of Noah’s Flood, where some 7 billion lived on Planet Earth, but only 8 struck it rich, by escaping the deathly deluge of the catastrophic decimation of all creation.
Packing supplies in, each person is carrying everything you need for a whole year on your back, as well as your mining supplies, all 1 ton of it, with no roads or trails, just heading back there into the wilderness, moving your pile, piece by piece, further and still further down the trail, until it is all carried into the goldfields. If you came over “The Edmonton Trail,” then you spent some 14 months of harsh and demanding endless fatigue, to eventually, and to finally arrive in the Klondike. If you arrive via White Horse, the boat will take you to Dawson City in just 36 hours, or you can make yourself a log raft, and float for two weeks down the chilling and treacherous river, and drift into town with your ton of provisions, that is, if you even survived the hardship of the trip. When you finally and successfully arrived in the Klondike, and were lucky enough to purchase a “Claim,” the first problem is living conditions, so you pitched your tent, the next problem is, ‘pay dirt,’ as it is sealed off below your feet, by some 2-3 feet of permafrost, that permanently frozen dirt, so you chop wood and keep a bonfire burning, then from out of that ash circle, you chip your way down through, once below the permafrost, digging is so much easier, so with a home-made windlass, you are able to winch up to the surface your dirt, problem. It is nigh on impossible to survive the harsh Klondikes 6 months of twilight winter, with mercury temperatures hovering around 30-40F Minus, and 50-60-70F Minus is semi common, in the 21 hours of darkness and twilight. To exist, you need a log cabin, soil sods for a roof, a good fire to run 24/7 nonstop, for if it ever stops, you freeze to death quickly, whether sleeping, or awake.
So now you have ‘Your Claim,’ but then you also need to live long enough to work it, you need a sturdy and safe and warm cabin, built by yourself, with whatever equipment you had carried in on your back. Now you have something to live in, now you need to dig dirt, lots and lots of it. Winter is so intensely cold, it is either dark or dim twilight for 6 months, so you go underground, and dig dirt in the dark for 6 months, hauling it up to the surface, and tipping it upon your growing pile of ‘Potential.’ Spring arrives, the ice on the river cracks and breaks up, now you have access to water, as you need lots and lots of it, dragged up from the river in buckets made out of discarded tins and large cans, for to feed your ‘wash plant.’ With some planks, some carpet on the bottom, some riffles to help the gold to settle in the carpet, yet you must let the dirt and stones flow though, so you wash your pay dirt pile through your basic equipment, and rock your cradle wash trough or sluice box, water and paydirt tipped in, bit by bit, taking every advantage of the 21 hours daylight per day. You dug all winter, now you wash all summer.
As Autumn approaches, you rush to get the last of the ‘pay dirt,’ processed, and now for the big ‘weigh out,’ you have spent 12 months of back breaking, unending ‘hard graft,’ but what was achieved? Did you just spend a year of your life, just washing a pile of rocks, and with nothing to show for it, to defeatedly catch the last boat out before the winter freezes the river, and you are trapped with nothing, and 6-7 months of impossible weather, but that makes survival impossible. John 9:3-4 “Jesus answered, neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.”
But did you strike it rich, was it worth the effort, but then again, is there more still down underground, or have you recovered all that this claim can ever give you, and you need to quickly catch that last boat out of town, and run with what you have, or have not, hopefully selling what you have left to somebody keen enough to try to mine the possibility, that the last miner left you a fortune, or just another pile of rocks to wash?
Revelation 22:11-12 “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward [is] with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” Jesus is coming very soon, just like winter in the Klondike, and man’s work is ore, and we can work no more, the 2nd Coming will shut down everything, all your efforts are going to be revealed as to what was accomplished, did you wash rocks, or did you wash gold, was it much, miniscule or heaps. Revelation 22: 12 “And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward [is] with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” Daniel 5:27 “TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.”
Has your “Weigh In,” come up well short, or have you, Revelation 7:13-15 “And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, what are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, these are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore, are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.” Have you washed all your ‘pay dirt,’ and have found the gold of God, and have been diligent in his word, panned nuggets and colour, and now have much, for Eternity is a very long time, so while there is still time, let us dig into God’s Word, and pan for the treasures therein, the end is imminent when man’s work is over, at that time, there is time no more, the winter blizzards have frozen everything solid, and what you have got, is all that you will ever get, has panic set in, or have you been diligent??
Revelation 3:17-18 “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and [that] the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.” Scripture is sprinkled with veins of gold, nuggets of truth, pearls of wisdom, gems of understanding, we need to scratch around and to uncover them, two men looked at the ground, one man saw dirt, while the other saw treasure, potential, wealth, color. When you look at your Bible, do you see and access the ‘Treasure House of God,’ or do you see something completely different, the treasuries of God are worth way more than a hill of beans, have you slogged and toiled through this vain life, found the Pearl of great price, have you real ‘Pay Dirt,’ or have you just been washing rocks all your vain life? Psalm 119:18 “Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.” Two men looked that things afar, one saw trees and the other saw stars. The Bible is loaded with gems of truth, pearls of understanding, nuggets of righteousness, color of growth in Grace, do you see “Pay Dirt,” and harvest its infinite value, or worthlessness, and just have a pile of freshly washed rocks?
