Keeping Up With God’s Provisions Is In Line With Worshipping Him

Word-Of-The-Day: ‘<God said to Isaiah,> “No longer will they build houses and others live in them, or plant and others eat. For as the days of a tree, so will be the days of my people; my chosen ones will long enjoy the work of their hands.”’ (Isaiah 65:22)

Having to replace one of the pumps in our two-pump well water system, at least for me, is never an easy task.  I never think, ‘I want to plumb in a new pump today!’  Yesterday, however, I had to replace the oldest of the two pumps yesterday as it decided after at least fifteen years (maybe up to twenty) of service, it needed to retire and take its rest in the landfill where it will be going on garbage day.

Yesterday of course was Sunday, and I don’t plan on anything too strenuous to do on Sundays as I take the Lord’s instructions on resting that day seriously.  It’s always a great day to nap (though I seldom do) and catch up on shopping and ensuring things are ready for Life Group on Monday.  If a race is on we may watch it, or in the fall, professional football (much to the chagrin of my spouse). 

Of course, yesterday being Mother’s Day, I had a thought or two on doing something for my spouse.  But when there is no water flowing into the house, it is imperative to get the water flowing.  No showers, no dishwashing, no clothes washing, and no toilet flushing can be done without water flowing in the house.  Though ‘city water’ (water pumped by the community’s water system) usually is on during power outages, well water systems are down without power.  If a well water pump fails, water doesn’t flow.

Fortunately, I was prepared for such a time like this and had a replacement pump on hand.  I cut the old pump out of the plumbing, and put the new one in its place.  As easy as that sounds, I took me, a non-plumber, about four hours to complete along with the requisite trip to the home improvement store to get the widgets I don’t have on hand to make it work.  It took a little bit of creative piping, but the new pump is installed and we again have running water in the Yeager household.

We could have gotten by without the water; we do every time a hurricane comes and turns off the power, for a day or a week or so.  We have our pool as a ready source of water, and we have drinking water on hand to last us quite a while.  But in giving us our home, God doesn’t want us to neglect our homes, and when repairs are needed, He wants us to do our best to fix problems and maintain them. 

A home is a gift from Him, a provision that we should want to maintain to keep it from falling apart or looking too shabby.  He wants us to maintain our homes as He wants us to maintain relationships with other people. Maintaining what He provides is a form of worship; a show of respect toward what He gives.

Now there will come a day when we’ll no longer need to maintain our homes, or maintain those relationships with others.  That of course is what the Lord is telling us in today’s verse.  As He provides the provisions of our homes and of our relationships today and the means to maintain both, He will ultimately be providing us everything we need to live with Him for all Eternity.  We won’t need to be concerned over having to replace a pump or plan on when to have a renovation start – our Eternal home will be maintenance-free and never in need of repair!       

The context of Isaiah 65:22 is when God brings about the New Heavens & Earth, forever replacing the old one, and we have our eternal home with Jesus as King.  However, we see that God’s desire for us is to live and enjoy our homes, and enjoy the work we do to maintain them and ourselves.  This falls into being good stewards of what God provides us, to take care of things we are given as, with a place we can live within that will help take care of us. 

The Lord wants us to be good stewards with what He gives us, and that includes our possessions.  This does not mean we should covet them as they are first and foremost the Lord’s, but we should want to take care of them and ensure their upkeep as ‘whatever you do, do all to the glory of God’ (1 Corinthians 10:31). 

We don’t need to make our homes look like the Monticello or the Biltmore, but they should reflect our relationship with Jesus; be presentable and welcoming, secure inside with the love of Christ demonstrated.  Now we all do the ‘pick up the clutter & sweep the floors’ drill when we get a call that someone is dropping by, but remember to live in your homes – they don’t need to be showcases like the homes shown on HGTV. 

Be comfortable; if you’d drop over at our house there will be some stuffed mice and fuzzy balls on the floor, as cats live here and they don’t put things away (being cats, they think they own the place anyway).  But it’s not a sin to do home improvements to spruce up the place or give you something to make life easier.  If you need to do a fix, by all means, do the fix! 

Whatever you have, God has given it to you as He loves you.  You are responsible for what He provides to you to not only keep it but use it for His glory – but enjoy using what He provides to live life fully in Him!