When you have good equipment, you wear it out before you give it up.

It doesn’t matter what the equipment might be – a kitchen appliance or a tool on your work bench – if you like how it feels when you pick it up or how it works when you use it, it will wear out before you toss it out.

I was recently thinking about equipment I’ve had over the years at work and in sports. I have had equipment that has stayed by my side or in my bag for decades.

The skates I wore before my present pair, I had for 23 years. I loved them and hated to give them up. I don’t know how many blades I put on those skate or how many blade housings I had to replace, but I just kept doing it because I loved those skates.

The other day I was playing golf with a couple of high school friends. About four holes in, one of the guys came over to me on the green and showed me his putter.

It was the same putter as mine. … I’ve had this putter since I was 22 – that’s a 44 year old putter! 

There have been times I’ve thought about getting a new one, but as much as I might like to blame my putting on the putter, its the guy holding it that’s missing the putts. 

Over the years I’ve cut a few inches off the shaft and I’ll probably get it re-gripped one day, but I don’t think I’ll ever replace it. It’s like a part of me. 

Equipment you like is comfortable. It’s like that old sofa in your family room – it’s soft and you sink into it like a big hug that’s wrapping its arms around you. 

You could stay there all day … and, frankly, sometimes I do. 

I have a baseball glove that’s been with me for 39 years. The pocket is deep and wide and the leather has been soft from day one. I’ve caught many a fly ball with this glove. I’ve restrung it countless times. I love it and won’t part with it. 

As I’m winding up my career, there has been equipment that has been with me a long time, like my main Bible. I have lots of Bibles but there’s one that I use every day. It travels with me and is the Bible I preach from each week. 

I got one of these Bibles in 1988 and really liked it. I still have it. I used it the last two years for a Bible Study I led.

Its cover is worn out, the binding is shot and some of the pages are torn and held together with tape. The cover acts more like a file folder than a book. I can’t take it anywhere any more. I can’t preach from it; pages could fall out. 

But this beauty has memories and I’m not getting rid of it. It’s the kind of equipment you don’t toss out.

Here’s the thing: There are several verses in the Bible that state that God will never leave you nor forsake you. Those verses are addressed to those who love Him. The thing I like about those verses is that no matter how worn out or torn up we get, how old we become or tattered we look, if life has been rough on us or we have had tough falls and failures, God is not going to leave us. He’s going to keep us. … Pretty comforting, don’t you think? 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What equipment have you kept and don’t want to part with? Leave your comments and questions below.

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