Being "The Oil"

We spent much of the wet part of this past week in the shop getting machinery ready to put in a crop. An important part of that process is lubricating moving parts and making sure tractors are serviced and oil levels are full.

Along with greasing, everyone grabbed a cordless impact and we soon had all the cultivator sweeps replaced. Kurt, Alex, and Andy packed and tightened the wheel bearings. Karl marked all the stress cracks and Matt welded them.

 25 years ago this was the skid loader we used every day and the one all the kids grew up on. As the jobs got bigger, so did the skid loaders and this one was eventually replaced with ones equipped with bigger buckets, diesels, cabs, and tracks instead of tires.

Well, one rainy day we went to Donna and Arlin's and asked if they would be interested in selling this old skid loader back to us. Arlin said, Take it home. We drug it on a trailer, brought it back home, tinkered with it an afternoon, and got it to run. 25 years later Kurt is bigger and the skid loader seems smaller.

 We did have a dry enough day to tile on a farm north of Ottumwa. BJ is trenching in a 10" tile along each side of a ditch hooking up all the smaller tile running into the ditch. Mark is taking the trees out with his excavator. When we are finished it will be a seeded down waterway.

 The next morning we loaded the dozer and brought it to the job to pile the trees and shape the waterway. However by the time we reached the field it was raining.

Carl, our John Deere salesman, stopped by with donuts one rainy morning. We plant his field of corn. He stops by occasionally and we talk about machinery possibilities. Machinery sales have dropped 60% in the last three years.

Oil is used to keep things running smoothly. Oil does it's job in the background and often out of sight. However using a piece of equipment without oil is not an option. A motor would be down in minutes. A bearing out in weeks. 

We are to be the oil to others. Being the oil is usually doing ones job in the background of helping things go smoothly. Seldom is oil center stage. Oil on the outside of a motor just collects dirt.

Oil helps reduce friction. Solomon says in Proverbs that," love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends". 

Occasionally oil is used for cutting. Often we hold others accountable to make ourselves look and feel better and show we were right and they were wrong. That's not right. Being the oil in others lives and helping them be responsible for their actions is to be done for their good, not our own.

Sometimes oil can be used for healing. Fixing hurts can be a tough job. However the sooner it's done the more effective it can be and the less scars it leaves.

Oil can be healthy and used for softening. Many of us grew up being taught to have a shell that keeps others out and feelings and emotions in. Previous generations considered it a weakness to share, especially struggles.

God has shared so much with us, family and friends, a vocation we love, and in two weeks we will celebrate His ultimate share with us, His Son. The Bible is full of stories of Jesus helping others. He asks us to follow that example. Have a good week.