Unknown Features

The technician finished repairing and servicing my 20+ year old lawn tractor and instructed me to start it up. As I lifted my leg to sit down on the tractor seat, he said to me, “You don’t have to sit on it”. His statement puzzled me because for over two decades, that was the only way I knew to start the mower or keep the engine running after it was started. As a safety feature, the seat has to make contact with the sensor indicating a rider is on it. This prevents the mower from moving without a rider.

I knew from earlier dialogue with the technician that he had over 25 years of experience repairing mowers, including the model I own, so I listened to his instructions. He directed me to engage the clutch pedal and then move the speed control lever all the way to the end slot with the “P” on it, which is the parking break. Then he told me to turn the key. Sure enough, the tractor started with me standing next to it. I’m mechanically inclined, but I didn’t know the mower even had a parking break.

I began to think about all the times when my son was younger that I would call him outside to sit on the tractor to keep it running while I worked on another part of it. There were many other occasions when I put a cinder block on the seat so I could start my mower or keep it running without me sitting on it. Other days I had no choice but to let the engine cut off when I got out of the seat.

There are several lessons I learned from this experience. I can be using something for years and not know all the features it possesses. This amplified for me the importance of reading the manual thoroughly. I had read the manual when I purchased the machine, but do not recall ever seeing this feature. I still have the manual, so I checked it, and sure enough, it states, “the parking brake must be set if the operator leaves the seat with the engine running.” Not knowing what you have can lead to unnecessary weights, like sons and cinder blocks. This experience was also a reminder of trusting someone who knows more than I do. I could have resisted the technician’s instructions and not experienced anything new.

How many features in life am I missing the benefit of simply because I don’t know they exist? God has given us the manual of His Word, the Bible, but I have to read it thoroughly and clearly. “A wise person will hear and increase in learning, And a person of understanding will acquire wise counsel.” ~ Proverbs 1:5 (NASB)