Good morning and welcome in everybody. Today, we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture, but before we do that, I wanted to tell you a little story.
During this time of the year, a lot of people will migrate to this area from other parts of the country. Many of them own hunting shacks up here in the woods, and will move in for a few weeks in order to hunt deer. Whether it’s parking their pull behind on some rural property, or staying in a secluded cabin somewhere, a lot of them are completely off the grid, using generators a few hours each night for lighting and charging their deep cell batteries. But whenever you use a generator, it requires regular maintenance. The best time to do this is during daylight hours, when you can see what you are doing. You might change the oil or top of the reservoir, making sure that the operating levels are correct. Perhaps you check the pull rope to make sure that it isn’t frayed, and won’t break when you give it a good pull. Most of all, you want to make sure that the fuel tank is completely full of gas. But sometimes when it gets pitch black outside and you try starting the generator, you will quickly realize that nobody bothered to fill it with gas. It might run for a short while, but then shut down because of the low oil sensor. Nobody even bothered to take a few minutes during their day to do some preventative maintenance.
This reminds me of the Christian Life.
Our walk with God is a process of daily Spiritual maintenance. We must be ready and prepared, keeping our hearts and our minds filled up with the teachings of God’s Word. If there are any problems, we must correct them, and make any repairs that are needed in order to be ready for the Master’s use. We want to be constantly filled up with the oil of God’s Holy Spirit, and never allow our faith to shut down, triggered by a low oil sensor.
Matthew 25 ¹ Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. ² And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. ³ They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: ⁴ But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. ⁵ While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. ⁶ And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. ⁷ Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. ⁸ And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. ⁹ But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. ¹⁰ And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. ¹¹ Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. ¹² But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.
¹³ Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.
Procrastination in the Christian Life is the pathway to doom, and has been defined as the action of delaying or postponing something until a later time. Like a child who puts off their homework and is unprepared for class the next morning, procrastination is to put off doing something because you don’t want to do it, something else becomes more important, or simply because you are lazy. Out here in the woods you want to make sure that you prepare yourself beforehand for the approaching nightfall. You want to have your generator fueled up and filled with oil, otherwise you will only find yourself sitting in the dark.
Have you ever had a son who used the car, but when they brought it home it was completely out of gas? When you left for work, you couldn’t even get a couple blocks down the street to the gas station before the car sputtered and died. That can make for a pretty tough start to the day, and is something that could have been prevented with a little bit of maintenance.
Maintenance is the process of keeping things in good working order by regularly checking on them, and repairing them as needed. This ensures the continuous and efficient operation of the equipment. We too must check ourselves daily, making sure that we are abiding in a close relationship with God. Just like making sure that the oil lamps were full and ready to go, we must examine our own hearts, making sure that they are operating smoothly, according to the one true faith. .
“Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves……2 Corinthians 13:5
Most of the Christian Life is about being prepared and ready for what is coming in the future. If you are going on a long trip tomorrow, wouldn’t you fill up your gas tank today? If you are going fishing this weekend, wouldn’t you get all your fishing gear ready today? In order to obtain eternal life, one must start preparing themselves for it right now. This is done through humble submission and obedience to the will of God. Sadly, many people could care less about repentance, and a lot of them profess to be Christian. Everything else becomes more important in their lives than maintaining a close and faithful relationship with God. It could be just about anything, from a wife, relatives, or even the desire for Earthly gain. You might procrastinate when it comes to the temporal things of this world, but you never want to put off repentance, whether it’s with God or a brother in the church that you have wronged. God can bring great tribulation upon the impenitent, and can reap a soul whenever He desires and without warning.
“Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.” Matthew 24:42
Rather than procrastinating, we have to perform preventative maintenance, preparing ourselves now for the Judgment that is coming. Noah is a prime example of a man of God who did this very thing.
“By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.” Hebrews 11:7
So, we always want to keep our hearts filled up with the oil of the Holy Spirit. Those who don’t do any preventative maintenance will only find themselves in the same situation as the foolish virgins, completely unprepared for eternal life. You don’t want to be sitting in the hunting shack having a nice dinner with your family, when all of a sudden the generator dies. You will only find yourself fumbling around in the dark and trying to find a flashlight, all because someone was too lazy to fill the generator with oil, which eventually shut down, via the….
……Low Oil Sensor
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you all, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody.❤️
tlkjbc.com
Teufer Lake King James Bible Church 