Do you have a Maintenance Plan?

² Thessalonians 3:4 (The Message Bible)
Because of the Master, we have great confidence in you. We know you're doing
everything we told you and will continue doing it. May the Master take you by the hand
and lead you along the path of God's love and Christ's endurance.

There are very few, if any, people or things that we deal with on a daily basis that do not require maintenance.  Our physical bodies, our relationships, our automobiles all require some form of maintenance. Many things require what we term as “preventive maintenance.”  Let me take a moment to define these terms.

 Maintenance:  to keep in existence or continuance; to preserve; to retain: to maintain good relations with (relationships).

Preventive Maintenance: The care and servicing for the purpose of maintaining in satisfactory operating condition by providing for systematic inspection, detection, and correction of incipient failures either before they occur or before they develop into major defects.

While we often plan how to begin something, or how to obtain something, we neglect to consider the need or the means by which it is maintained.  After all, the Blessing is not just in getting it, but it is in keep or sustaining it – with the help of the Lord.  I remember well my son’s excitement at the thought of owning his first automobile.  I’m sure many of you can relate. He thought about all the places he could go, and the things he could do (without mom or dad tagging along), he thought about the dates he could go on, and the parties he would no longer have to miss.  Eventually, we were able to get him to come to some understanding about his responsibility as it related to down payments, and monthly payments,  – but the hardest lesson of all, had to do with the ongoing maintenance of the vehicle. You know, the insurance, the oil changes, the belt changes, the balancing of the tires, etc… those things that had to be done on an ongoing basis for the life-span of the vehicle.

You see, maintenance is important as it relates to the quality of existence as well as the life-span of most things.  Yes, death can and does occur, when things are not maintained.  It is the consistent performance of a good maintenance plan that allows something to reach its life expectancy, and in the same light; that allows us to endure and to bring something to completion.  In short, the same thing it took, to get it started, it will take to keep it.  

Consider the following: most people see a rapid growth in their relationship with Christ when they first accept Him into their lives.  However, as time goes on, years go by – some find their growth rate slows down drastically, that is often because they are not doing the same things, spending the same time with Him, that they did in the beginning.  I could make the same comparisons with our marriage relationships or in our careers.  Due to lack of maintenance, some things have just broken down.  However, as I often say, failure does not have to mean the end.   I’d like to ask each of you this week, to reflect on your relationships, your goals, and most importantly your relationship with Jesus Christ.  Ask yourselves, where have I lacked in the area of maintenance?  As I do the same, let’s stand in agreement that He will restore and bring new life and a plan for maintenance where we have lacked one. 

Write those areas down that you need to focus on.  Next, consider a few practical things you can do immediately, to get back, or perhaps develop a maintenance plan where there was none.  Here are a few places to start:

To maintain a healthy relationship with God: 

1.       Communicate Daily with Him in Prayer.

2.       Practice Worship – The Book of Psalms is a great place in the word of God to learn of Worship, and reading many of these scriptures out loud can usher you in to a place of worship.

3.       Read the Word of God.

4.       Practice Thankfulness.

5.       Trust God, and learn to depend on Him.  He is faithful 

To maintain a healthy relationship with others:

1.      Practice Forgiveness.

2.      Be Honest.

3.      Communicate Openly.

4.      Provide Support.

5.      Show appreciation.

To maintain your focus on a goal:

1.      Write your goal(s) down.

2.       Keep your written goals in sight, use sticky notes or posters.  These serve as reminders.

3.      Engage an accountability partner to help keep you on track.

4.      Don’t spread yourself to thin.  Concentrate on 1-3 goals.

5.      Set milestones and track your results.

Copyright 2011 Victoria L. Burse
Purchase a copy of my new book Destination Destiny at victoriaburse.com

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Victoria Burse
Victoria Burse
Visit my website and follow my blog @ www.queensofthekingdom.org