Mike’s text message read: “I needed to know so I gutted the valve.Found the problem. 1/64” scratch in brass seal inside valve. Too big for the new plungers to work.”

My breath stopped in one of those you have-got-to-be-kidding-me moments.

His message continued: “We were hopeful that the less expensive fix would have worked.”

Yes, Mike, so did I. About $1,950 worth.

The backflow device for our church in Walnut Hill had been leaking for a while, and it was growing worse to the point of continuous flow. Pete had replaced all the inside parts a couple of years earlier, and it had worked fine for a very long time. We had no iota there soon would be a huge leak on the horizon or a new problem that will sprout from the old problem the seed of all the problems.

So why was it leaking now? The backflow guy said, “Just flush the thing out.” So Pete flushed out every valve, twice. Still leaked. Mike flushed it. Still leaked. He said, “The seals probably went bad.” So we replaced all the seals and rings. But the old ones were not worn, and the backflow still leaked.

Finally Mike’s worker replaced the whole thing and brought it back for Mike to see.

A piece of grit had gotten in — a common problem when the city does work on a water system — and it apparently got lodged and ground a teeny-tiny-itsy-bitsy scratch: One sixty-fourth of an inch. I had to repeat that. What size of scratch — 1/64 inch has done all this damage.

Well that was enough to cost us about $1,950, at a discount, which left me saying, “Thank you, JESUS!” Many in the church said, “Why didn’t we just leave it?” Hum! Because the future water bills would eventually have become more than the repair cost.

A lot of little things in life stay little and make no difference. But beware the seemingly little things that cause big problems: worn tires, leaky pipes, junk food, accounting errors, bad behavior, not paying attention, disrespecting others, or couples not talking. Or much bigger problems because of ignoring God, or assuming eternity can wait, or because one is “a good person”, they will be fine. Little things can sometimes become expensive. Or disastrous. They can cost a life. They can even cost an eternity.

Jesus called the Holy Spirit “living water,” and all whom believe in Him became reservoir of this “living water”the Holy Spirit. Water belongs in a system — so the Holy Spirit ministry is to be present in His fullness in the life of the believer.

I think it is safe to say that a Christian can experience the power of the Holy Spirit draining out of his or her life. Like the vast majority of leaks in the literal water system leaks in our spiritual reservoir happen beneath the surface, out of sight, out of mind, drip-drip-drip at a time — until we realize we are completely without power or spiritual health.

The New Testament speaks clearly of at least two ways Christians can lose spiritual power and resources: grieving the Spirit (Ephesian 4:30) and quenching the Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19).

We must be aware of the reality of Spiritual leaks. Then we must do whatever is necessary to fix them. Only then will our living water remain within where it belongs.

Is there anything in your life, or in the life of someone you love, that’s like that 1/64 inch scratch? Something that, if ignored, could cause great trouble? Or your eternity? Or that of your loved one?

Get fixing!