EQUIPPING YOURSELF FOR A TASK

Written by Luz Leigh -  March 2007

Oh, the fragrant odor of freshly mowed grass!   What a wonderful fragrance on this   first day of spring.   Truly a sign that winter is about to become a thing of the past here in East Texas.   I could hear the young men who work for the lawn maintenance company as they were unloading their equipment; checking the fuel in the mowers, trimmers, weedeaters; and making sure there was ample string in the weedeater.  They go about their job as if they must mow every yard in town on this very day.  Quickly and efficiently.  Because they do this sort of work about nine out of the twelve months in a year, they are familiar with what must be done.  They have performed their duties in our yards for several years and are familiar with the layout of both mine and my son’s yards.  Almost as quickly as they arrived, they are gone….moving on to the next job.  I once talked to the foreman of the group and asked how many yards they can do in a day.   To my surprise he said, “at least five in the morning and five in the afternoon, if we only take a short lunch break.”   Wow!   When I did my own yard, it took me the better part of a day to do just that one.

As the truck pulled away from my driveway, the trailer loaded with all their equipment, the young men waved to me with big grins on their faces.   Another task completed, they seemed to be saying.

            My thoughts turned to Life in relation to this maintenance crew.  We as a Christian family work together to complete tasks that the Lord has assigned us.   Before we can begin the task at hand, we must have the proper equipment.   That equipment must be in working order.   We must be familiar with the operation of it.  We must be dressed for the task; we must know the location of the task and we must arrive on time.

Now where is the location and what is the task?   It is wherever the Lord leads us; it might be a “large” yard to mow, covering two acres or more.   Or it might be a small lot, not much bigger than a breadbox.   It matters not the size; only that we are expected to do our very best and leave evidence that we have been there.

What do we wear?  Ephesians 6 tells us to put on the whole armor of God so we can stand against the devil’s schemes.   Paul the Apostle, writer of this book in the New Testament, lists those articles we will need.  Beginning in verse 14 and continuing through verse 17 he says, “Stand firm, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.  In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.  Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

So now we have arrived at our work site, chosen by the Lord.  We are properly dressed, but what about our equipment?  First and foremost, prayer is a vital part of our equipment.  In verse 18 of the same chapter quoted above, Paul continues with these words, “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.”  Well, that’s not so hard, now is it?  We can pray wherever we are; in the privacy of our home; as we drive down the road in our automobile; as we sit quietly waiting for appointments.  Most importantly, we need to pray before we approach any task set before us.  

Another very important piece of equipment is our Bible.  Read it, study it, grasp its meaning.  Pray before and after you read, as well as during the time your mind’s eye is reading those precious words.   The words that make their way into your heart so that you may share them with others.            

When you have completed the task to which the Lord has assigned you, you can look back and smile, knowing you have left the “yard” in a much better state than you found it, just as those young men did when they drove away from my place today.   They felt good; you will feel great.

So, prepare yourself with your equipment; your clothing, understand what your task is, arrive at the appointed hour, do what the Lord has directed and leave knowing your best was what you gave Him.