I recently took my truck in to get the oil change and tires rotated. Nothing unusual about that except it seems like I just had that done. I have the truck serviced every 5,000 miles. It is all part of the ma i n t e n anc e plan to make the truck last and drive longer.

When the service work was finished I paid my bill and got in the truck to head home. All looked good and the truck drove great. That evening I was heading home from the church and it seemed awfully dark. The sun was down, the street lights were on but it still seemed dark. It was then that I noticed the headlights were off. What??? I guess when the mechanic at the Ford garage was working on everything he had turned off the light from the auto-on position to off. Not a big deal I thought. But the problem was I couldn’t find the switch to even turn on the headlights!

I had become accustomed to the lights coming automatically when it was dark. I just took for granted that the light would come on by themselves and all I had to do was turn the key and drive. I had become so familiar with this process that I had forgot where the switch was located and had to take a few minutes to locate it.

Then I got to thinking about the other day, I am walking into a building and I stand in front of the doors waiting for them to open. As I was waiting another individual came up and pulled the door open and walked in. It was not an automatic opening door. Boy did I feel like a fool as I pulled the door open to go in the building.

Unfortunately, that was not the only time something like had happened. I was in the restroom of a convenience store washing my hands. I put my hands under the soap dispenser waiting for the soap to come out and nothing. I thought that it must be broken and went to the dispenser at the other end of the sink and same thing. Then I noticed the plastic piece at the bottom you pulled on to get the soap to dispense.

And if that was not bad enough, I put my hand under the faucet to rinse with water and nothing. Again? I tried another and then noticed a handle to move to get water. Want to guess what the paper towel situation was like? After I waved my hand in front and underneath the paper towel holder I pushed the lever on the side down and the towel dispensed and I dried my hands feeling quite embarrassed.

I know you are probably thinking I’m not too bright to have missed all these, but… My point is that I have become so accustomed to having these things done automatically that wherever I go I expect them. I become too familiar with technology that I assume it be done. You know lights come on, soap dispenses, towels come out, doors open and even toilets flush!

But as we do this in our everyday life, I wonder if we do this in our spiritual life also. You know, we sit down to have our daily Bible reading and we open our Bible and begin to read. We read a passage that is quite familiar or section of Scripture and it seems like we just go through the motion. We are reading words on a page that really have no meaning. We know what they say, but do we know what they mean, are they speaking to us?

Not only our Bible reading or devotion time, but how about our prayer time. We take time and get still or silent and begin praying, listing off names of individuals for intercessory prayer, needs in the community or church as well as personal needs. But somehow we get lost in the words, our minds wander and we seem to just recite familiar words but don’t think about what they mean.

Our worship can fall into this familiarity also. We just glide into the building and just go to autopilot. We sit, we stand, we bow, we give, we listen, all the while we are not really engaged in anything except being present. We are all too familiar with everything.

And if something changes we scramble. We frantically look for the switch, the lever or button to make whatever it is function!

Familiarity is not all bad in itself. There are many advantages to it but it also can have some pitfalls. When technology is available use it (lights, water, soap and towels) but when it is not, know how to revert back to the old fashioned (opening a door, turning a faucet, pushing a button or flipping a switch) way of life.

Same is true with the spiritual. Do not become so familiar with the present that we forget the basics or how and why the basics are there. It is all about Jesus. Standing in the Doorway, Bro. Tim