As you all know, my son Hunter and I just returned from a wonderful time of fishing in Ontario (That's him on the left with a big Northern Pike). I remember numerous fishing trips I've taken over the years with my family and friends. I also remember several times when I experienced great difficulty with my fishing gear. One time I was out in the lake with my uncle when the engine on the boat died. We tried everything we knew to get it restarted, but to no avail. Unfortunately, like most folks, we didn't take along the owner's manual so we were trying blindly to fix an engine that neither of us knew very much about. If we'd had the owner's manual we would have discovered that the engine was fine. The problem was with the fuel line. After what seemed like hours of paddling and using a very small trolling motor to get back to the boat dock, we learned the importance of taking care of our equipment and reading the instructions. There have also been many times over the years when I thought that I was adept enough to disassemble some of my fishing equipment - rods, reels, etc, to oil and do maintenance on them. Just like the boat, though, I ignored the owner's manual and assembly instructions and inevitably ended up with several pieces left over after I tried to put things back together - they never worked right again!
In life I've also learned that we can get into a lot of "messes" whenever we neglect our Owner's Manual. What I'm talking about is God's Word - The Bible. the Apostle Paul said, "All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching the faith and correcting error, for re-setting the direction of a man's life and training him in good living. The scriptures are the comprehensive equipment of the man of God and fit him fully for all branches of his work." 2 Timothy 3:16,17 (Phillips) But in order to discover what works to make our lives work, we have to read, study, meditate, and put into action the Word of God. If we neglect our Owner's Manual, we can easily find our lives falling apart during times of trial and adversity because we won't have the power, ability or wisdom required to put things back together. But the Bible contains all the information necessary "for instructing, correcting, persevering and training in righteousness" So be sure to take care of yourself by reading the Owner's Manual.
