I have a variety of motorized tools for my woodworking hobby. Having continuously collected them over a number of years, some are newer than others. The new tools are up to date and need only common, modern tools when repairs are needed. Some of the older pieces of equipment are not so easy to work with. Not at all standardized, these machines often require specialized tools in order to repair, and sometimes even to adjust them.
Since I bought most of the hardware fresh from the store, I also own the appropriate tools to service them. One machine, however, I received pre-owned, and without spare parts or tools. Since it’s an older piece of equipment, it’s extremely well built and despite much loving use, it’s in great shape. Unfortunately, a simple belt broke, and my woes started right there.
Being an older machine, it requires specialized tools to fix and adjust. Since I don’t have those tools, the breakdown was something of a challenge. Well, not too much of a challenge. It required a bit of creative work to disassemble the thing, but once done, I made my life simpler for future repairs by changing a key part. Simply put, I exchanged an old thing that required a special tool I don’t own for a new thing that needs a tool that is just about as common as the air we breathe. Problem solved once and for all.
Change in this case was vital. Without that change I would have had to find a very special tool and wasted a lot of time doing so. By substituting the old bit for a new one, I was able to update my machine and ensure that it would both run and be repairable for a long time to come. I didn’t alter the function of the machine. I didn’t alter the way it worked. I didn’t even alter the appearance. I just made one modification of one small part in order to bring it into the modern age.
God has provided for us an ancient technology to serve an ancient problem. The technology, in the form of the 10 Commandments, is universal and pretty easy to use. The problems those commandments address haven’t changed much either. Nevertheless, today’s world is in many ways different from the world of Moses and the Law. We have to adjust accordingly, in the way we teach the Commandments, and in the ways we look at our actions.
Think about some of the things we do nowadays. The way we treat our environment, the way we borrow money, the way we spend our days all place new challenges on the 10 Commandments. Those old laws certainly apply to our new issues; we just have to adjust our thinking in order to understand how. It’s not a major adjustment, mind you. It’s a matter of knowing what God is really saying in His laws, and understanding how our new sins are really just old ones re-expressed. Those ancient, tried and true commandments fit virtually every sin, whether it’s old, new or yet to be invented. All it takes is a slight modification in how we understand things so that those old laws can guide our new way of doing things as God intended.
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