Obedience is Maintenance

“He that keepeth the commandment keepeth his own soul; but he that despiseth his ways shall die.” (Pr 19:16 AV)

Pretty simple to understand.   No mystery here.  Obedience is not hard to understand.  It is hard to do.  Obedience is our hardest challenge.  One would think faith would be the hardest.  But faith is often hoisted upon us without our choice in the matter.  Not always.  But very frequently.  We are diagnosed with a serious illness and there is nothing we can do but trust.  Job comes to mind.  A man whose life was turned upside down.  He had no choice but to trust.  When it comes to obedience, we are confronted with that choice a multitude of times on any given day.  From the time we awake until the time we lie down to slumber, our moments are filled with choices of right and wrong.  This free-will thing stinks!  We are tempted on every side.  We are commanded to make a choice.  We have no option but to choose between what God wants and what the flesh wants.  The world and the devil give their two cents.  They put a choice out there for us to make.  What a pain!  The thing is, obedience, among other things, should be considered as stewardship.  Hence the word ‘…keepeth…’ above.

Maintenance is not my hobby.  I think it is boring and I learn nothing new.  It is kind of funny because that is one job I had for seven or so years.  I had a job as a maintenance mechanic for a small office building.  My employer later added two more buildings.  My job was basically a glorified janitor who made minor repairs to equipment and the buildings.  Simple plumbing and HVAC repairs were part of my job.  I prayed for a breakdown or two on any given day.  If these didn’t happen, it was cleaning restrooms, vacuuming carpet, and moping floors for me all day long.  Changing blown-out lightbulbs was also on the list of things to do.  One job that I despised was polishing the brass handrails.  It didn’t matter how much time you spent polishing the brass, within a few short minutes, it needed it again.  I hated it.  My boss would come around every now and again to inspect my work.  Invariably, he would look at the brass handrails.  Because one touch from a sweaty or oily hand marred the handrails, he was under the impression I never polished them.  I hated maintenance.  But maintenance is what kept the building functional and presentable.

Obedience is often the same thing.  Yes, obedience is the means by which we please the Master.  It is a way to reflect the holiness of the law by following it.  But obedience is also about stewardship.  The LORD has created us to be a certain way.  He has designed His creation to operate within certain parameters.  When we deviate from them, we cause harm to what He has created.  Therefore, conforming to the laws and commandments which govern His creation is an exercise in responsible stewardship.  Therefore, whoever keeps His commandments also keeps his own soul.  He maintains the life God intended for him or her to have.  To fail to keep His commandments means we fail to maintain the life and purpose which He has graciously granted.