Oil for the road

As a kid reading the Biblical Parable of the wise and foolish virgins, I always wondered why the preparation for the night watch separated the group into foolish and wise. They were all virgins after all. So what made the difference? How much oil they carried - Yes Oil for the night, fuel for the journey, content for the mind, character for the struggle.

So everyday made different meaning in my life and so is this period in which one year ends and another takes off. Invisible lines and connects that join us with history. A period for resolutions; goal setting; stock taking; thanksgiving and mourning. A mixed bag for some and glorious season for many. Yet one significant aspect that we always recognize whether in silence is that all invisible lines we have created will one day be erased. 

If 2014 must break into 2015, those lines must be erased, so how far is the journey and do you have enough oil? Indeed, talking about oil, it can be greasy, messy, cheesy and so much baggage, yet it is fuel and it is a store of energy. It's essence is actually in the use we put it to. So it can be neutral; it can bring good and it can make everything seem so bad. Now that is the thing, everything is exactly in the light of what we make of it, so bad can be a platform to greater good as good can enable more goodness and vice-versa.

Now when we go to the gas station to refuel, it’s consciously made with thoughts taken on the next window of journey, available resource and the quality of the gas. Some even buy fuel because their tank must never go beneath a specific level. One tank can never last you forever, there must and will always be need for rearmament. When we look at our own life in similar context, it makes it easy for us to relate to the needs for refueling or reinforcements in our life.

Notice that we just don't get fuel, no, its strategic. So you want to function at your best potentials, you must function at your best and this comes from revelations. Yes, the oil you need for 2015 draws strength from merging the reality of our times with the truth there actually is. Did you know that we expect perfection in everything, so yes, the take off point for 2015 is a full expectation, hence you need oil for the road?

As we face the New Year, we must look ourselves and be truthful to ourselves. It starts with TRUTH. How that truth is evaluated is critical and hence you must get wisdom by correctly applying understanding and knowledge. You will have to understand that success is at different stages, so while you are looking at the things that were not happening as expected, you have to see beyond the end, and ask - What did I really plow in? Is it commensurate with my expectations - No! Then it means you need to either do more whether it is in methods, strategy or more fire power - "Oil for the road".

Yes, its stock taking time, and its planning season, so as you plant what have you learnt from 2014? See when a child is running at a goal and falls, they get up and continue running at that goal, you my friends must learn to also add a post mortem of why did I fall? What happened? Not just the goal, Not staying at review of the fall, you need to be this adult, and you must be that child still.

You have had several New Year’s break, many resolutions overtime, but whilst you planned, did you also remember to put side by side the work that needed to be done, the execution, the timelines, the control and command processes as well as the cost of those goals. Did you even understand what you needed? What oil did you carry for 2014 - was it SLUDGE or FUEL?

Are you fueled for 2015? Do you have oil for this road? You must empty to refuel; you must not hold to the old and expect to embrace the new. The old is history and lesson for today, you don't live there, you use the information they have provided to make tomorrow certain. The work is on today? You must be a success in all aspect of your life. You must locate Oil for your spirit, your flesh and your mental person. All needs filling and must be complete for your 2015 to run on full steam. You can be religious, you can be intelligent, you can be all powerful, yet not anything. You need Fuel and not Sludge

To begin, we must complete first; In Racing towards 2015, we must know that a good start requires a strong finish.

Are you here? Okay, you must pay the price for gas and for me, it's comes in varied forms, thanksgiving and appreciation is part of that price. In short, every opportunity to give offering, every price is an opportunity to escape suffering. Make a decision to Live In Fulness Everyday. A decision is a choice, and choices are definite. The flesh will blow us in varied dimensions, yes it will tend us with varied options, and hence we need the Word of God to steady us. There is no gainsaying it, you must marry your needs and your wants.

Borrowing a line from Littlehead -

The more we trust

The more we give

The more we share

The more we build bridges and break barriers that lie around us

So do you have oil for the road - are you one of the wise virgins or sadly a foolish one- there is still time, for it’s in you, reach it, hold it, and run with it. There is oil enough for our needs, we just need to pay the price - begin from a truthful appraisal of 2014.

Nugget: Little is a lot, do not despise little beginnings. Stay with those little efforts and you will have a bountiful harvest when the roll of 2015 is called.