Mike’s Musings …
Check for Airlock!
Recently, I purchased a “pull-behind” sprayer to attach to my lawn tractor. The convenience is nice. No more reloading a two-gallon sprayer, then pumping it multiple times while endeavoring to traverse rough terrain where vegetation is unwanted. But this purchase was not without its challenges. While it worked fine at first, it did not hold pressure and would not increase pressure.
After some research, I thought the regulator was bad. I bought another regulator, but before installing it, I made a careful check of all the fittings, making sure there were no leaks, followed by another test of the unit. The pressure never grew above 20 psi, and the unit needs 40 psi to work correctly. The pump was not priming, so I manually primed it. Still no increase in pressure. By accident, I opened a valve for the “boom” sprayer, and to my delighted surprise, I had 40 psi instantly! Experiments with the spot sprayer and the boom proved that all I needed to do to prime the pump properly was to release the air pressure and fill all the hoses with the contents of the tank.
It seems the same is true of some people whose enthusiasm for serving our Lord just does not seem to have the right “pressure” for them to properly function in that service. Their “pump” runs, but for whatever reason, they just do not “build pressure” properly. For them, perhaps it is a matter of opening another “valve” to release the airlock that prevents them from being “primed to the full” with God’s Word. With my sprayer, the “airlock” from that closed valve prevented the pump from priming and subsequently filling the unit with the contents of the tank. Souls who have something “restricting” their full “prime,” need to check their spiritual fittings, assuring no “leaks” and rid their minds of “airlocks” that prevent the fullness of God’s word from filling all the working parts of their souls!
I muse on the comparison of my sprayer and our minds. Most of us have heard the critical expression, “airhead.” This illustration explains it very well. Unfortunately, unless we remove such “airlocks” from our minds, we will never reach our full potential as faithful servants of God! What a waste to have the ability to do abundant work for the Master, only to satisfy ourselves with half or less of those abilities! 2 Corinthians 13:5 requires we “check for airlocks,” so to speak. Open your mind to accept ALL things pertaining to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3).