Faith Maintenance

Faith maintenance is not as easy to measure as other areas of our lives, like annual doctor visits or 3,000 mile oil changes on our automobiles.  Failure to maintain any area of our lives leads to visible consequences.  Treat your faith like your car and follow the checklist to make sure you are giving your faith the attention it deserves:

1. Check your alignment.  Spiritual potholes sometimes knock your faith out of alignment.   Weekly church service helps keep your faith in a straight direction.
2. Look under the hood.  Careful inspection of your soul will help you identify areas of concern.  Do this at least every 3 months or 3,000 miles and pay careful attention to the oil.
3. Change your wiper blades.  No matter where you live, there will be storms in your future.  Let the Holy Spirit be your wiper blades.  He will help you see what lies ahead.
4. Remember to rotate your tires.  Your spiritual journey lasts a lifetime.  Without good tires, you risk a blowout on the way to your final destination.  I rely on the four Gospels as my tires and rotate my reading so attention is given to each tire.
5. Wash your car often.  Your faith may be invisible on the inside but others will notice when your actions need some polishing.
6. Use premium gas.  The Old and New Testament of the Bible, when combined, produce the best octane on the market.  Keep your spiritual gas tank filled and you will never be alone.
7. Practice defensive driving.  The road is filled with other drivers who neglect their faith.  If your faith policy is active, you're 100% protected in the event of a collision, including death.  Remember that your policy requires accident forgiveness even if it's the other driver's fault.
8. Check your muffler.  Other drivers shouldn't have to be annoyed by your loud muffler.  Live your faith by your quiet actions rather than your loud words.
9. Fill your radiator with coolant.  You especially need this when climbing mountains.  Your spiritual car has everything it needs to handle your specific road no matter how steep.  Sometimes you may need to live without air conditioning during the climb to keep the radiator working properly.
10. Hire a mechanic you can trust with your life.  Jesus is the best mechanic I know.  He is available 24/7.  His automobile survived forty days in the desert before his wreck that resulted in a fatality.  Three days later, He was fully restored.  The restoration was so good that many other drivers had trouble recognizing Him.  

Remember to share the road and your faith with other drivers.  Would you mind sharing this message with someone you care about who may benefit from some faith maintenance?