Since my retirement in 2016, I don’t drive as much as I used to. My 2012 vehicle has fewer than 66,000 miles on it. At this rate, given that modern cars can reach 200,000 miles, the RAV should be good to go for another 20 years.
Unless.
Early this Spring, I called my mechanic to make an appointment for an oil change. Unfortunately, they were booked into the following month and I needed to make my annual trek north before then. So I put it off. And off. A few weeks ago, the “maintenance required” light began flashing when I started the engine. I had been told in the past that this particular light is no cause for alarm. So, telling myself each Saturday when the garage was closed, that I needed to make an appointment in the upcoming week, the weeks passed with me failing to do so.
Then, this afternoon, a more alarming light showed up on the dashboard – “check engine.” This, I know is a serious light to which attention must be paid. I checked my phone. The mechanic’s garage would be closing in fifteen minutes, but I called. The receptionist at Braun’s is very knowledgeable. She asked pertinent questions about the appearance of the various trouble lights, the driveablility of the car, whether or not I smelled anything burning, etc. She looked up the vehicle’s maintenance record and told me it had been two years since I last had the oil changed. Two years! I couldn’t believe it. Surely it hadn’t been that long, had it? But it must be so. She put me on hold while she spoke to the owner then came back to tell me I could bring the car in tomorrow morning and they would check the oil and fluid levels just to make sure I could continue to drive the car. A full tune-up was scheduled for two weeks out, since the owner’s manual recommended routine maintenance at 50,000 miles and I had not taken care of that.
Routine maintenance.
It’s so easy to let it slide. Our spiritual lives require routine maintenance just as much as our vehicles. Church attendance, Bible study, prayer – all elements of the routine maintenance for the healthy operation of a Christian. Like regular stops at the gas station, I’m not doing too bad at church attendance. Plus, I am there most weeks to put together the lessons for Children’s church. Bible study? I have a “through the Bible in a year” plan going and I’m actually up to date on it. It’s not intense study, but I am getting the word on a daily basis. Prayer? Well…I could definitely do better there. So, for this year at least, not too bad. But I must confess there have been stretches, sometimes whole years when at least one of those spiritual maintenance issues have been neglected.
So. Starting tomorrow, I resolve to be more diligent in tracking the routine maintenance for my car. Starting tomorrow, I resolve to be more diligent in those areas of routine spiritual maintenance where I am lacking.
What about you?
Kathy Kexel 