Sometimes we have to learn the hard way. It’s better to take your car to Jiffy Lube than change the oil yourself. Here are a few of my “experiences:” oil spill on driveway the size of the Alaskan tanker Valdez, forgot to put “plug” back in oil pan resulting in Valdez oil spill up the street, and realizing the last time I changed the oil was, gulp, THREE years ago!

Jiffy Lube now sends me a post card every three months. I take my car in. Oil changed. Car happy. Customer happy.

We do preventative maintenance on our cars, furnace, regularly clean the dust from the refrigerator coils, rotate tires, replace the air coolent in the radiator, well, you get the idea.

What’s striking is how little we get check-ups in areas far more critical than tires.

When was the last time you had your “yearly” (place to laugh, here) physical? Ahem.

Think about your marriage. In thirty years of ministry I’ve had ONE couple tell me, “Seth, we’ve been married ten years. We’re happily married, but we think it would be a good idea to get a “marriage check-up.”

What you normally hear is drivel like, “We don’t need help. I don’t have a problem; maybe you do. Our marriage is fine.”

Imagine if you did the same thing with the guys at Jiffy Lube with your car. “I know I’ve never had my oil changed, but if it’s not broke, don’t fix it.” yikes!

Let’s bring this home. Do you need to:

1. Set up an annual physical?

2. Take your wife out on a real date?

3. Bounce an issue or two off a mentor?

4. Ask a married couple over to your house for dinner? Let them do a marriage check-up with you. Ask them what they’ve learned.

Maybe all four!