MAINTENANCE CULTURE
MAINTENANCE CULTURE
A couple of months ago, we purchased a power generating set. Anybody who is familiar with these things would know that they need to be handled with care. Maintenance is the key. Otherwise you run the risk of being without electricity when you need it most. Well, exactly a week ago, Tuesday the 31st October, 2017, to be precise, wouldn’t you just guess what happened? Said “brand new” generating set sputtered to a halt!!! We were all aflutter and confused. What could have gone wrong? So we called the company who supplied and installed the set and told them what happened. The first question they asked was “For how many hours has the set worked?” So we went to the dashboard and pushed a few buttons and whaaaat??? 405 hours! Ehmm… The generating set needs to be serviced after 200 hours. And we had run it for twice the length of time because someone did not do their job. Yes, you guessed right! The maintenance guy was ooh so guilty. Thank God for technicians who know what they are doing. The company sent them in and within two hours generator was back up and running.
As always this got me thinking… how do we maintain our relationship with God? Do we have a chart, a time table, a schedule, perhaps, that says when to praise, worship, thank or appreciate God? Do we even realise that this is a relationship that needs to be attended to with the utmost care? Do we realise how important it is to maintain this relationship? Like the generating set that was not serviced when it should have been because someone neglected to check up on it and it eventually broke down, so will our relationship with God break down if we neglect to spend time with Him appropriately, studying the word, praising Him and telling Him we love Him by obeying His commands. “If ye love me, keep my commandments” John 14: 15 KJV
Like the generating set that failed to generate power and produce light when it was not serviced and maintained, our lives will end up being in darkness when we go on day by day without a connection to the light of the world, Jesus. “I am the light of the world, he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” John 8: 12 KJV
Also note that the generating set did not break down at 200 hours. It kept working for another 205 hours before it finally shut down. When we are out of tune with God, when we stay away from His home, remember His house address is in the praises; (“But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel” Psalm 22: 3 KJV) the effects might not be immediately visible. This is very dangerous because it just might be too late by the time one comes to realise that they have been negligent in their maintenance duties. And literally all hell will then break loose. I pray that will not be our portion in the name of Jesus.
When God sent His only begotten son, Jesus, to die on the cross for you and I; it was really because He wanted to have a personal relationship with us. His plan was reconciliation; made possible only through Jesus. We are no longer required to access God through a high priest who would have to kill a lamb in order to atone for our sins. Nooo! Our sins have been taken care of once and for all by the precious blood of “the Lamb Of God”, Jesus, which was shed on that cross. Therefore, let us not take this relationship for granted and let us make every effort to cultivate a habit or culture of maintaining it. This is the one relationship that we should not allow to shut down, break up or break down.
LET US MAINTAIN IT!!
Oluyinka Jaiyesimi ©