Welcome to the Set Your Mind Above podcast, where every day, ordinary events teach us extraordinary eternal truths! I am your host BJ Sipe, and I’m so glad you’ve tuned in today! I am excited to share my life & my faith with you, and I sure hope you’ll do the same with me along the way.
Well, since the last time I gave you an update, a lot of crazy things happened with our new vehicle that I talked about last week. Before we picked up the car last week, they said they were fixing an issue with the front left break. Well, after Kylie drove it home she told me, “Something is still wrong with the car.” I took it for a drive and sure enough, that caliper was still sticking on the front left wheel and making a horrid noise whenever you applied the brakes. After a lot of back and forth, the dealership finally came and picked it up and dropped us a rental car so they could take the Ford Flex back to the shop and fix it properly this time. They called us yesterday evening and told us that they had fixed it (for real this time), and that our vehicle was ready for pickup – so we ran back up to Georgetown and picked it up. This morning before work, I told Kylie that the car still needed a few things done before I turned it over to her to start driving. I had made out a list of things I wanted to do to the car mechanically, as well as things I wanted to go purchase for the car internally. Jumper cables, tire pressure gauge, and a small assortment of other things are good tools to always keep inside a vehicle – so my first trip was to AutoZone to pick up what we needed for inside the new car. My next stop was across the street at the Valero to get the oil changed and just inspect several other things. The oil had 4% life left according to the dashboard, and while you can always push it a little farther than 3000 miles in a vehicle, it is terrible for your engine to allow too much time to pass before changing the oil again. As it moves through the engine, it picks up dirt, debris, and water over time causing the oil to be less efficient. Bad oil can also cause build up or clogs, leading to very serious engine problems that will result in very expensive repairs. They changed the oil and I had them run some diagnostics to find out when the last time the tires were rotated, alignment was done, air filter was changed, etc. None of these are major mechanical projects, rather they would be classified as “routine maintenance” for a vehicle. However, if those routine small things are neglected, just like the oil change, they can all cause serious problems over time. Not rotating your tires can cause uneven tread wear on your existing tires, taking thousands of miles of use off of them before all your tires would need replaced. Not having your wheels aligned can drastically affect your gas mileage, as well as the life of your tires and other problems. Even changing the air filter regularly helps prolong engine life because the air filter traps dirt and debris that can damage the engine. It’s a small fix, but if you don’t stay on it, it will create much bigger issues. Don’t wait until you are having engine failure to learn how important it is to regularly have these things worked on, regular maintenance should never be neglected.
As I was sitting in my vehicle and they worked on these things, I started to consider how important this principle is not only with things like a car or a house, but with our relationships and our faith as well. We all have “regular maintenance” that we should be doing in our lives, and if it is neglected, it will lead to catastrophic problems in our lives. Consider what the Lord Jesus taught in Luke 16:10, “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.” Jesus makes a connection between the little things and the big things. Someone who is not faithful in the little things cannot be trusted to be faithful in the bigger things. One might try and offer a rebuttal to Jesus’ statement and say, “But those little things aren’t as important.” That’s just the problem, your perspective is all off. Being faithful in even the little things is extremely important, because if you don’t do them, it leads to much bigger issues. Those who can be trusted with much are those who understand the importance of routine maintenance & the little things. This applies to so many areas of our life. It applies to our marriages, in how we must learn to be faithful in the little things. It’s been said that marriages are not lost because of the big fight, marriages are lost on a Tuesday night. It’s the husband and wife that don’t connect, but just stare at their phones. It’s the spouse that neglects doing their part around the house or with the kids, or neglects to set aside time for intimacy with each other. These are not big things, they’re little day to day things, but when they go a prolonged time being overlooked, they cause big issues. It applies to growing in the knowledge and grace of Jesus Christ. Setting aside time to read the Word, reflect, and pray is critical to our spiritual growth as Christians, and yet that is often the first thing to be neglected when life gets busy. As a result, it could be weeks, months, even years since the last time you regularly read & prayed each day. Suddenly we look back and found that we have not grown at all – we are stuck in the same place we’ve been for quite some time, or perhaps are even worse off. But it is not so suddenly, we filled our time with television, games, or other things and never spent time with God. There are countless other applications that you can make in your own life, but the message that we want to take away is the same: the little things matter. Be faithful in them, and you will find that the big things will all fall into place.
Thank you so much for listening to today’s episode. Tune in, Tuesday-Fridays, as a new podcast episode will be uploaded each day. Also, be sure to follow the Facebook page for the Set Your Mind Above podcast for future announcements and weekly video sessions that are uploaded on Saturdays. As you have the opportunity, share these thoughts with your friends and family, and share with me what important lessons you are learning from every day, ordinary events. Until next time know that I love you, that God loves you, and may we all each and every day set our minds above!