So Tired
The mechanic was always ready to do his work and in spite of his heart problem he worked hard. He was working for a rental shop as their mechanic, just what he so much enjoyed. When he was ready to leave this position he purchased a trailer and ditch digger from the shop. After he sold the ditch digger, one day he was ready to go over an over pass when he was pulled over at a checkpoint. The policeman was amazed at the size of the wheels on that trailer the mechanic was pulling and was wondering if they were legal for the road. They looked very odd and small in comparison to the size of the trailer.
When all the children grew up and left home, first to go to school and then to establish their own homes, it was so different, and their voices and presence were terribly missed. It wasn’t long and they were Grandpa and Grandma.
One bright morning in January when there was plenty of snow covering the ground, the mechanic and his wife and a guest were sitting at the breakfast table. The breakfast was barely touched when suddenly there was a roaring sound that was getting louder. The first thought was, that it was a train going by because the tracks run along the road at the end of the driveway. But this roar was coming from the floor and it sure was not a train. Then they saw flames coming through the wall. Breakfast was completely forgotten. So the guest ran to the neighbor’s to call the fire department. The mechanic quickly hooked up a hose to the washing machine facet in the bathroom and went up to the attic and started hosing the flames that were already shooting through the attic. At the same time his wife took the mop bucket and filled it with water from the bathtub and started dumping pails of water on the flames in the living-room.
The firemen were right on the ball and soon they were getting things under control. They chopped away the walls to get right to the flames and soon the fire was put out. They put the mechanic and his wife in the great big fire engine to keep warm. It was very cold and now it would be very cold in the house also.
The center of the house was burned but the bedrooms and office and kitchen were still fine. The fireman said that if the mechanic had not sprayed water in the attic the house would most likely have been demolished.
The strange thing is, there was no hole in the chimney pipe and there was no fire in the basement other than in the wood stove. Nothing in the basement was burned but the fire started in the floor in the kitchen and there is no fire in there. If that had happened just a little sooner the mechanic would still have been in bed and who knows what would have happened. The Lord is so merciful and He saved the mechanic’s life again.
They had to live somewhere else until they could get things cleaned up and fixed. It was a real mess with ash and water and debris all over the place.
The mechanic continued with machines, glad and happy for every moment of it. He renovated homes again and again and people knew they would get a good job done and passed the word around. And the mechanic tried to get a word in wherever he could about how wonderful Jesus is and that he is coming soon, and leaving books whenever he found it possible.
One day the mechanic was on his way to the city to go shopping. He had not had enough sleep so he got out of the truck and took a walk to wake himself up. He got back in the truck and the next thing he knew he was upside down in the ditch hanging in his seatbelt and the hydro pole broken off. Someone stopped to see what had happened and reported to the police. The Lord saved his life again. But this was a hard lesson to learn. He knew he had to be wide-awake to drive and he could have killed himself as well as someone else if he had hit another car. So it is not only the motor that needs to be running right, the one behind the wheel needs to be running right. If he doesn’t have the proper sleep he will be too tired and his body is not going to work right, just as the motor is not going to work right if it gets worn out.
When you buy an old vehicle you have to expect that you will be making some repairs
Sooner or later and the mechanic’s truck was on its way out. The motor was no good. So what was he going to do now? His broken ribs were healing nicely from the accident but the new-old truck that he bought was giving problems. He had to have a truck to haul materials and get to his jobs. But the Lord knows what we need and he sent a friend along who gave the mechanic an old gray truck. Even though it should have some work done to it, it got him where he had to go. Gradually he was able to get parts and make it run better, especially in shifting the gears. Sometimes we are like the gears in a truck that does not go into gear. Our mind many times is stuck in a certain gear of ambition and we think that is what we are to accomplish and we do not see the other important things that need to be done. Usually it is our pride that keeps us from seeing the needs of others and we demand our own way no matter the cost. We notice the sins of the other persons but do not compare our life with the life of Christ who is our example to follow. Many times we find our self in the middle of necessary tasks that we find are a drudgery and go at it in low gear and are not noticing the benefits and enjoyments that could be recognized in what we are doing. Each job we do should be done thoroughly getting the dirt out of all the corners of our motors and house and cupboards as well as cleaning the corners of our mind. Diligent work is to be done carefully and as quickly as can be. How do we get into the right gear? We cannot go wrong if we check our gears every morning. If we are learning what God has for us to know and putting it into practice by obeying every word, then we can know we are in the right gear, ready to start the day with the Lord.
After a lot of hard work on the gray truck, these gears and others things were in good working order while the other truck with the bad motor just sat there doing nothing.
We do not want to be like the truck with the bad motor, we want to be useful and search our life to see how to get our motor running and not be dead and good for nothing. With the help of the Lord we can get up and do something of value. The devil would have us discouraged and think our life is of no use when we have been sick or injured and laid-up even unable to move. But it’s an opportunity to put the trust in Jesus and ask Him what to do.
“Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.”
Ecclesiastes 9:1
His (Jesus) presence brought a purer atmosphere into the home, and His life was as leaven working amid the elements of society. Harmless and undefiled, He walked among the thoughtless, the rude, the uncourteous; amid the unjust publicans, the reckless prodigals, the unrighteous Samaritans, the heathen soldiers, the rough peasants, and the mixed multitude. He spoke a word of sympathy here and a word there, as He saw men weary, yet compelled to bear heavy burdens. He shared their burdens, and repeated to them the lessons He had learned from nature, of the love, the kindness, the goodness of God.
He taught all to look upon themselves as endowed with precious talents, which if rightly employed would secure for them eternal riches. He weeded all vanity from life, and by His own example taught that every moment of time is fraught with eternal results; that it is to be cherished as a treasure, and to be employed for holy purposes. He passed by no human being as worthless, but sought to apply the saving remedy to every soul. In whatever company He found Himself, He presented a lesson that was appropriate to the time and the circumstances. He sought to inspire with hope the most rough and unpromising, setting before them the assurance that they might become blameless, and harmless, attaining such a character as would make them manifest as the children of God. Often He met those who had drifted under Satan's control, and who had no power to break from his snare. To such a one, discouraged, sick, tempted, and fallen, Jesus would speak words of tenderest pity, words that were needed and could be understood. Others He met who were fighting a hand-to-hand battle with the adversary of souls. These He encouraged to persevere, assuring them that they would win; for angels of God were on their side, and would give them the victory.
ChS 120