Out of sight, out of mind is an often used truism that I have heard all my life. This is especially true concerning home maintenance. I was in the handy man home repair business for many years and it is roof issues and under-the-house issues that go unnoticed and unknown until problems start arising. Then there is an investigation. Preventative maintenance with periodic inspections is a good policy. Most of us don’t do that. We wait for a problem to arise before we look in to it. One frequent, usually yearly issue that I had to address, was roof leaks due to the accumulation of leaves in a valley of the roof or some other place that would catch debris. When the debris builds up, it creates a dam that catches the water so that it finds its way through the shingles down onto the roof deck. If this continues for years, with the accumulated debris never removed, the wood deck of the roof rots and the water finds its way down into the house. A melting volume of snow will do the same thing with some roofs making a one-time leak. The simple solution is to keep the roof valleys and places that catch debris clean. After the leaves fall is a good time to have your roof valleys cleaned. Give yourself a preventative maintenance Christmas present – have all your valleys cleaned before Christmas each year. You are not doing it so others can see your clean roof and say “Oh what a clean roof they have!” No, you are doing it for your own good and benefit.
Our walk with the Lord is much like maintaining a house. If we stay clean before God, we can weather the storms of life with confidence. The Bible says “Beloved if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight” (1 John 3:21, 22). Six times the writer speaks of God’s faithfulness in Psalms 89. God is faithful to his Word. If we are doing our part, he will do his part – without fail. We trust doctors, we trust lawyers, we trust the chair we sit on – don’t you think we can trust God? Yes! It’s embarrassing to even ask the question. If the roof is made correctly, and we keep it clean, it won’t leak, we are covered, we are protected. If a limb falls into our life and knocks a hole in our roof, if we are paying attention to things on a daily basis, we call the fixer – upper right away and get the problem resolved. Jesus gave his life so that we can have a heart change, receive the life of God within us, and keep the debris out of our life. Let God show you what you need and take the blood of Jesus for cleansing. God is faithful to help.
