NEED A LIFE ADJUSTMENT?

I picked up my old chainsaw yesterday to do some overdue tree trimming. After many, many pulls, I did get the old motor running, though it smoked and coughed. But then it's done that lately because it's old, so I didn't expect much better from it.

As I let it "warm up," I noticed the adjustment screw was covered with sawdust, so I reached in with my finger and cleaned it off, and in doing so, turned the screw just a little. The motor ran a little better! So I picked up a screw driver and a brush, did some more cleaning and adjusting. Before long, that old saw was humming like it was new - wow! Here I was ready to junk it, and all it needed was adjustment. After using it for years, that set screw must slowly have tightened down, not letting enough gas get to the spark plug. But when adjusted correctly, that motor ran like it was new again.

Oh, that it would be so easy to be adjusted in life! Sometimes our lives get to coughing and sputtering, and we begin to think that's just the way we are, that we can't expect much better. But perhaps we are that way because very slowly, over the years, we've picked up a bad habit here, or a nasty attitude there and a wrong thought there. And we've had them so long we think it's part of who we are, that we can't change. But when God's Word shows us the truth of what we've become, and shows us what Jesus did for us, we can get cleaned up and changed for the better.

Of course, we can't do this changing by ourselves. And we can never become so good that we don't need some kind of changing. Our sinful nature will always keep our motors sputtering. Certain sins will always foul up our spark plugs. Bad fuel will always make us run poorly. But in Jesus Christ, we can receive the eternal adjustment of forgiveness, daily, not just ever year or so. And God's loving adjustments help us avoid becoming set wrong in our ways.

The particles of sawdust, like an infinite amount of "little" sins, may even cover the obvious. But when the goodness of God in Jesus Christ enters our lives, especially when God sends a Christian friend who cares enough to be truthful to us, we are given the chance for a new start. Our old sinful self already has a cleansing from the cross of Christ that makes all things new.

I guess I won't toss the old saw. After all, God didn't toss me out, either.