“Preventive Maintenance”

August 7, 2008

~~~~ ONTHISDATE~~~~

the educational part of F4F 

1782 - George Washington orders the creation of the Badge of Military
Merit to honor soldiers wounded in battle. It is later renamed to the
more poetic Purple Heart.

1944 - IBM dedicates the first program-controlled calculator,
the Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator(known as the Harvard Mark I).
                  (...it was ten guys with their shoes off...)1973 - NBC airs the final day of the Watergate hearings on
daytime television.
(...many rejoiced as soap opera's returned to the air...)

~~~~WISEWORDS~~~~

“Be not angry that you cannot make others as you wish them to be, since you cannot make yourself as you wish to be.” ~Thomas à Kempis, Imitation of Christ, c.1420

~~~~~Chuckles&Chortles~~~~~

Eight things that just shouldn’t have been said to a Police Officer:

l. I can’t reach my license unless you hold my beer.
2. Sorry, Officer, I didn’t realize my radar detector wasn’t plugged in.
3. Aren’t you the guy from the Village People?
4. Are you Andy or Barney?
5. I thought you had to be in relatively good physical condition to be a police officer.
6. You’re not gonna check the trunk are you?
7. Thanks, the last officer only gave me a warning too!
8. When the Officer says “Gee Son…Your eyes look red, have you been drinking?’ You probably shouldn’t respond with, “Gee Officer your eyes looked glazed, have you been eating donuts?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Preventive maintenance is defined at as a program in which wear, tear, and change are anticipated and continuous corrective actions are taken to ensure peak efficiency and minimize deterioration. To be honest – I don’t like preventive maintenance. And on top of that – I’m not very good at it. One reason is that it takes foresight. There is as yet – NO problem. Preventive maintenance requires thinking long-term and being able to see the wisdom in expending time, effort and money to fix something that ain’t broke yet.

I know it makes perfect sense but I still struggle on the preventive maintenance front. I know that if I lube my chassis, clean my cookies and grease my skids I can prevent a breakdown later – but it can be tough to set aside time when there isn’t a problem yet. Preventive maintenance; that’s today’s Fuel4theFire.

I know that if I think ahead today I can enjoy a prosperous retirement, have softer, younger looking skin; I can boast of a fuller head of hair and enjoy a smoother ride, whiter teeth and a faster internet connection.

The old adage is true – an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure; in other words, a little precaution before a crisis occurs is preferable to a lot of fixing up afterward. And while it is always true, in the spiritual realm the consequences and ramifications are infinitesimally greater.

“But let a man examine himself … For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.” (1 Corinthians 11:28-31).

The Great White Throne Judgment of the book of Revelation does not sound like any fun at all. This is the judgment of unbelievers. The Bible says that God will search the Book of Life and if your name is not found in it – you are judged according the law. All whose name is not written in the Book of Life – everyone who is not saved – will be found guilty of transgressing the law of God and condemned to spend eternity in the lake of fire. You can find this in Revelation 20:11-15.

There have been times when I did not get my brakes checked soon enough and I did more damage and cost myself more money because I was reactive instead of proactive. Think of how that pales to the regret of one standing at the judgment wishing that somehow he could do it different … a little preventive maintenance would seem like a small price to pay at that moment.

The regret that fills the heart of the one who turns to take his first step toward an eternal torment is impossible to imagine. All the opportunities to know Jesus would come flooding back. All the times we put it off – because there wasn’t a problem yet, will fill our thoughts. All of the arguments and all the skepticism will seem so distant and so empty … and to think, a little preventive maintenance could have changed everything.

“But let a man examine himself … For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.” (1 Corinthians 11:28-31). If we examine ourselves, and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal our sin to us, if we confess and repent of sin, we can avoid judgment. Talk about wise preventive maintenance. This may be the ultimate example!

God is willing that no one would spend eternity apart from Him (2 Peter 3:9). His whole purpose in sending Jesus was to redeem – or buy back – sinful mankind. The Bible says, and our conscience verifies, that we are all sinners. Preventive maintenance in the spiritual realm can keep us from a day of reckoning that will cost us more than any neglected set of brakes.

That’s today’s Fuel4theFire.

And remember … I love you guys.

Tom