One expensive lesson

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything…and heck…I’m not even sure anyone reads this anymore.  It’s not that my mind has been silent, it’s just that the things that have been ruminating in my mind, were things that were personal issues God was dealing with.  And then today hit, and for the first time in a long time, I felt the urge from Him to share it….that this message He had for me may also be for some unknown reader out there.

It all began while my car was hungrily guzzling fuel that I decided to walk around my vehicle to just simply look it over.  And then I noticed it.  A tear on the edge of a tire.  Now I’ve known that new tires were needed, but I was trying to put it off a little longer since my car just had some work done on it.  But I could not procrastinate any longer.  I drove straight from the gas station to a tire store instead of heading to church.  An hour and a half later, four new tires and more money out of my wallet and I was finally on the road to the 2^nd service at church. 

While driving home after church, I started to think about the maintenance my car has needed.  I’ve kept up on regular oil changes, rotating tires, etc., but sometimes there is one minor thing with it that will alter the plans I had for the day (like a new oil pan, new tires, new headlight).  And then I began to think about my walk with God in relationship to the maintenance on my vehicle.

I wake up each morning and have my quiet time where I read His Word, journal if prompted, and pray.  But lately it has seemed more routine….that I just simply get up and go through the motions.  These actions are the like the regular maintenance services for my car.  It’s all beneficial and helps keep things running smoothly.  But then, just like this morning with getting new tires, something small may happen in my life, a speedbump or a small prick of the heart from God, which signals that somewhere my heart needs some deeper work. 

My regular routine isn’t bad.  However, it is not as beneficial if I am just going through the motions.  When did I lose that passion for His Word?  When did I treat it all as a check-off list?  When did I stop relying upon Him and start relying upon my own strength?  My heart needs some maintenance.  I need His power to come in and change what isn’t working.  I need fresh vision, a renewed hope in His goodness, and maybe a new set of eyes to see things the way He sees them. 

So, just as my car has received some deep work and a new set of wheels, my heart and life needs the same.  What an expensive lesson to learn this morning…all because I needed new tires.