We turned on our air conditioner to combat this seemingly uncharacteristically warm weather and to my surprise our air wasn't cold coming out our vents. Oh boy. Probably needs some freon or something else like that to make it work properly. So, the air heating/air guy comes out and takes apart the unit and checks everything and....looks good! So he came in the house thinking I might need a new thermostat. That is when he says those fateful words..."come here, I found your problem." I go to the hallway and he opens up the area where the filter sits and pulls out the dirtiest air filter I have seen in a long time. There was not a way for any air to go through that filter because of the dirt. My face turned a little red and I started thinking, "When did I replace that filter?" I thought I replaced it three weeks ago, but it was apparently more like three months!!! He and my wife had a good laugh at my expense and I went and bought a case of filters and put a new one in there and guess what? It cools great now. He suggested changing it every time I get my monthly statement for utilities as a reminder to replace it once a month. That is a great plan and that is what I will do.
This little experience is chocked full of great illustrations for the Christian life.
The first one is this: We don't realize how far we have drifted until something in our heart shuts down and just doesn't work anymore. Hebrews 2:1 For this reason we must pay much closer attention to [a]what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. It is too easy to drift away from our faith and in that drifting float into unfamiliar, dangerous waters. If you read further in that chapter you will see the need to keep our life under the direction of Jesus Christ, from whence comes our salvation. In a world brimming over with information, the only information that builds our faith is what we get from God's Word. So, read the Bible every day and pray to God to apply it to your life and keep the dirt of the world out of your system. If you continue to let too many questionable lifestyle choices creep into your life, you will not notice that you are drifting from the truth and that the dirt of sin is piling up in your spiritual filter.
The second lesson is this. Go to the one who is an expert at fixing your life. Ask God if there be any wicked way in your heart and let Him guide you through the steps to get back on track. The Psalmist wrote in Psalm 139:24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." This psalm finds the writer really trying to clean up there life and they go to the heavenly Father, who is the one with all the answers about how we are and who we are.
The third lesson is this. God is perfectly willing to show us how to live our lives if we will just come to Him for direction. Another writing by the Psalmist says in Psalm 25:4-5 Show me Your ways, O Lord; Teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation, On You I wait all the day.
The fourth lesson is this. I need to realize the importance of every moment of every day to serve Christ. Ephesians 5:16 says to be redeeming the time, because the days are evil. If we don't watch our time, we may wake up one day and find out we don't have any.....TIME.
The days can turn into months, and months into years, and we look back and regret not using our time more wisely. But then it is too late. The best way to fix that is to start right now....don't wait!! If the world has some strongholds in your life pray that God will break them down and put Him back on the throne of your life.
The fifth lesson is easy. Confess your sins as God reveals them to you and keep your spiritual health as a priority. The best way to realize your sin is to read God's Word and pray to God asking Him to show you as well. 1 John 1:9 says, If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins. Of course we know that our sins are forgiven at our conversion and we are as white as snow before the Lord, but letting sin have more and more space in our walk sends us down a path that is further and further away from God. He wants us to move closer and closer to him, so "get the dirt out and get a good filter." You can see how easy it is to drift away from God. Getting back into a right relationship just takes you checking all the areas of your life on a regular basis and God will show you how and when to clean your filter so it doesn't clog up your relationship with Him.
You may be saying right now you just don't have the drive and passion in your life you used to have to serve God and you just don't know what is going on. Maybe my little problem with my air conditioner filter will bring the truth into focus for you. Maybe, Your filter is plugged up!!!
The Pilgrimage continues....
David Warren
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