The Owner’s Manual

I’d like a sense that life is working right. Wouldn’t you? And that my old lawn mower was working properly again. I’d like to make some good decisions, experience a fresh sense of joy, and maybe have better understanding of the people around me. And the times in which we’re living! I’d like a relationship with God that keeps my heart clean.  But that lawn mower, I don’t know what happened to the owner’s manual that came with it. The mower used to run fairly well, but not anymore; it’s hard to start, the engine puts out a lot of smoke and on occasion it even blows oil out all over the mower deck. If I would have kept that owner’s manual and paid more attention to it, maybe my mower would have lasted longer!  

It seems as if the year 2020 is a lot like my mower. I think we’ve lost the owner’s manual for humanity. If my life is going to work better and if our society is going to get level again, we need to go back to the owner’s manual! I may never find my copy of the Briggs & Stratton manual, but the owner’s manual for humanity, for me and society, is easy to find. I’m talking about the Bible. Now to put it into practice will probably cost more than I think, but to have a life that’s running better would be worth it, don’t you think? What we really need is not more money, but more knowledge! And looking around me, we all need some help from above as well as more knowledge! We need to know how to live in a way that works. Am I asking too much? I’ve been sort of tongue-in-cheek about this, but what we need is found in the owner’s manual for life, the Bible!

“The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether. They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them Your servant is warned; In keeping them there is great reward” (Ps 19:7-11 NASB). 

The designer prints the owner’s manual. The mower manual comes from Briggs & Stratton and the manual for life is from the One who created us! The owner’s manual for human life is the Bible.  If you’re like me and want life to work better, then join me in the decision to be a Bible reader, searching for truth and for God’s plan! Treat the mower right and it works right. Follow God’s specifications for life as found in the Bible and you can expect a better life, and at the end of this life an eternal reward!