The Importance of Maintenance
I was having lunch recently with a new pastor friend of mine who served on the mission field of Liberia for 26 years. Liberia is a third world African country that has been ravaged by poverty and war. In passing, he mentioned that the country had been given grants of money by the U.S. and neighboring countries to build large corporate complexes, housing and hospitals. As a matter of fact, in the capital city, Moravia, you will find the John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital, built with United States funds. However, in recent years these magnificent buildings have descended into disrepair, often to the point of disuse. Even entire hospital wings have been shut down, no longer the vital, bustling restoration stations they once were. As great as the gifts of these building have been to the Liberian people, the current result stems from one basic thing: the people have never been taught the importance of maintenance.
Just as machinery failures occur when not regularly checked, fueled and greased, maintenance is just as vital to you and me in every important relationship of life. Marriages often fail from lack of proper, consistent nurturing and care. The parent-child relationship can devolve into one of distance and resentment due to simple neglect. Our relationship with the Lord as well will suffer if not regularly maintained. As necessary as proper maintenance is, we often neglect it. Why? I believe because we tend to live by the urgent rather than the important.
For instance, it?s time for your car to be serviced, but you say to yourself, ?I?ll get to it tomorrow. Today has been rough, I just want to get home.? But tomorrow, it?s ?not really convenient. I need to get to my lawn work today and don?t have time for the car.? And then the next day, ?Time for groceries and I can?t do both.? Groceries, grass, lack of money or time – always something. Next thing you know, transmission starts acting up. Or, gas consumption increases. Or, the engine throws a rod and you?re out several hundred dollars because you didn?t spend eighteen dollars and thirty minutes on the timely and important servicing of your vehicle. The important has fallen prey to that which is urgent.
The tragedy is that we do the same thing with the far more important areas of our life.
* Your kids are growing up fast, you keep saying you spend more time, you?ll get to a ?date-night? with your daughter, you?ll try to read more with them at bed time, but intentions drag on while you attend to ?important? work projects, televisions shows, your portfolio, or whatever claims your time. And we wonder why one day our kids say we don?t care and we never spend any time with them. If they only understood that ?we were getting around to it??
* Your spouse is growing distant. She has a chill in her voice that echoes of many conversations you?ve had about the state of your marriage. She simply wants more quality time. More communication. But you?ve got deadlines. Hobbies. Work around the house. Fatigue from your stressful day at work. It?s always something, while the marriage goes unmaintained. It?s amazing how other people, like those who ring your phone, get immediate and exclusive attention. Urgent? Yes, they are. But really more important?
* God seems a million miles away. You know that prayer and Bible study is as necessary as breathing to maintain your walk with the Lord. But a little extra sleep, or the fact that so many things cry for your attention in the morning, or other urgencies displace what?s really important. ?I?ll get to it when I?m done with this project,? ?when things aren?t so hectic,? ?next week.? ?Tomorrow.? But tomorrow is always a day away and the days have turned into weeks and months, as your walk with Jesus has grown cold.
But still, we want the product that maintenance brings. We expect our families to just go along and get along anyway. We get upset when the harmony and peace and unity isn?t there like we want it to be. We expect God to take our prayers just as seriously when we?re in a bind, even though we?ve neglected daily dependence on Him and fellowship with Him. Maintenance is mandatory, necessary, vital, in any area if we?re to expect it to produce when we need it. We cannot expect to get golden eggs if we?re not feeding the goose. We cannot expect to make withdrawals if there have been no regular deposits.
Interestingly enough, a Liberian hospital may justify its own lack of maintenance, ?Well, we?re not into building-repair, we?re into people-repair,? not realizing that if they don?t quickly address their building disrepair, they?ll soon be out of the people-repair business.
Are your days turning into years? Before your time runs out: Stop. Re-examine. Ask yourself, ?Are the most important areas of my life being attended to? Are there signs of disrepair??
Listen to your answer. Whatever those area are, right there, may you never see rust.
