Recently, I was annoyed by a clunking sound developed under the engine of my car. As the day of picking up my kid at college is approaching, I decided to take last Friday off in order to check it out and repair it, if necessary. I end up spent a long day in order to get to the suspected rear engine mount – I couldn’t take it out because I “skipped” one of the procedures which should take down the exhaust pipe, for I fear the rusted pipe nuts would cause me regrets afterwards. But, this later proves to be my mistake and the root to all the miserable hours I have spent. In the next day, I decided to take down the exhaust pipe and this allows me to jack up the engine higher and actually gives me better access to the suspected mount. After got to the mount, I find that it is still in working condition. At that moment, I sighed, “What a fiasco! 🙁 ” In the end, I spent long hours again to put everything back, including the exhaust pipe. My wife then complained that I spent too much time on the car instead of on the family, what can I say? 🙁 This was really a “memorial” weekend!
Have I learned anything? Sure. Because of my “smart” decision in skipping a procedure, I suffered from the consequence of ungodly long-hours. This teaches me a lesson to follow the procedure completely, don’t try to be too smart. 🙁 The other thing I’ve learned is: there could be many surprises waiting for you when you are doing repair jobs, especially on an old car. Thus, you may easily get frustrated after a few difficulties surfaced. So, “be patient” and “knowing your own limit (i.e. admit your mistake and get some help)” are very important. You may ask me why I should perform the DIY repair? Well, the joy of DIY repairs lie on the sense of achievement, when everything is done and fully functional. Remember your kid exclaimed “I did it!” when he/she finish something? That is the feeling I am talking about. 🙂
In our spiritual journey, God gives us instructions to our life through His Holy Scripture. He also gives us free will to choose which way we want to go. We can either choose to follow His instructions truthfully or cut-the-corner and skip a few steps. In the beginning, it may seem to be no harm but in the end, the result is quite different. This was highlighted by Jesus’ parable of “The Wise and Foolish Builders (Matthew 7:24-27)”. Jesus said, “Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 凡聽見我這話不去行的，好比一個無知的人，把房子蓋在沙土上 (7:26)” Isn’t this serves as a warning to us? When we choose not to put God’s words into practice, we are like foolish men from God’s eye. Because, at the end of our life journey, we lost our only opportunity to become more like His son, Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, have you been following God’s words truthfully? If not, can you put God’s words into practice, please?
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Disclaimer: The sharing is pure from my personal view; therefore, please don’t take it to be absolute. Thanks.