Preventive Maintenance

I have several big pine trees in my back yard.  They give me shade and somewhere to hang my bird feeders.  The birds enjoy them too.  They sit in the branches waiting their turn at the feeder.  A bird will sit and wait, then swoop down, grab a seed, and bring it back to the same spot on the limb.  Then the bird shells the seed and has breakfast.  But with stately pine trees comes pine needles … in the gutters and in the grass.  I am reminded of the commercial about “Bill” who climbs the ladder that is “way too dangerous” to clean out his gutters.  But for me, Gutter Guard is way too costly.  So, if I don’t clean out those gutters and they get clogged, the rainwater gushes over the clogged gutters, destroys my fascia, and washes out a hole in my grass.  I need to stay ahead of the damage with preventive maintenance.  I need to clean out the gutters BEFORE the rain and BEFORE the damage is done.  Hey, the same is true in my heart.  Solomon said in Proverbs 4:23, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”  We need Preventive Maintenance on our hearts!  Get up a little earlier tomorrow morning and read a few verses in the Bible.  Meditate on those verses and start the day with God.  He will help you stay ahead of problems, not under them.  And that’s the best place to be.