Have you checked the battery?

NORSK
In Scandinavia we are in the middle of a “summer-cottage-season”, and in such seasons Health and Safety (HS) advertisements will remind us with a simple question: 
Have you checked the battery?

40 years ago I probably had a vague idea of ​​what risk-management was, but the concept has through the years consolidated its position as natural part of the vocabulary. 

Everything needs to be safeguarded these days, and if horse meat should turn up in the lasagna I bought at supermarket, an investigation will be performed to check if there are flaws in the producer's quality system, or if the incident is caused by human error. 

HS-concerns can cause a lot of bureaucracy, but a check from time to time can prove to be useful - also in the spiritual realm. Often, a simple question will suffice. Spiritual HS was an important part of Paul’s ministry. Among other things, he traveled around and "checked the batteries":

“Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”
Acts 19:2

The twelve disciples in Ephesus had not even heard of the Holy Spirit, so the question was both justified and important. But, it is important that the Spiritual HS check is not only words. Action must follow words, and that was one of Paul’s strengths. He explained the twelve what it was all about and then they were baptized both in water and in Spirit. Only when the check is followed by action, it is a real quality-check!
 
'Manna' for today:

I want to ask the important question 

- NB The smoke-detector illustration must not be taken too far: The “smoke detectors” in the my faith context are not there to remind me to extinguish the fire, but to alert me to bring more wood for the fire! ;-)
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