Fill ‘er Up
By
Jeannine Sawall
“…Man
does not live by bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of
God.”
Matthew 4:4b (NIV)
Matthew 4:4b (NIV)
When you drive a large
vehicle and are pulling a big camper behind you, you need to make frequent
stops at the gas station to fill up the tank. Fortunately, the car
manufacturers decided to make things easy on drivers by putting a handy little
gauge right on the front panel to let you know when your tank is about to run
dry. If it wasn’t for that gas gauge, we’d have to guess how far we could go
before our tank was empty. I’m sure we’d have been stranded on the side of the
road more than once if it weren’t for that handy little gauge!
As Christians, we also
need to fill up our spiritual gas tanks on a daily basis. In order to grow and
mature, we need to make sure we are seeking to establish our relationship with
the Lord routinely. Fortunately, the Lord has also given us a “gas gauge.”
The Holy Spirit prompts us to spend time in prayer, in the Word and in
fellowship with other believers. He warns us when we’re running dry.
However, it seems this gauge is a little easier to ignore since we won’t
literally be left sitting on the side of the road if we don’t stop to fill it
up. However, spiritually, we certainly can be left stranded. If we don’t stop
to put the effort into our relationship with the Lord, we stifle the work He
wants to do through us. We miss the blessing of having that relationship deepen
and grow, and we won’t have the resources necessary to sustain us through
difficult times.
Oftentimes, it’s easy
to put off time with the Lord. We fill our tanks up with other things,
sometimes even good things. How often have we chatted with a friend, gone
shopping, read a book, gone to an exercise class, sat down for a bit and
watched a favorite show…and at the end of the day, we never sat with the Lord?
While it’s not always easy, we need to prioritize that time with our Father and
fill up on Him. He provides the spiritual gas necessary to walk this Christian
life. When we respond to the Holy Spirit’s prompting, we won’t run dry and we
won’t run out of time. He will fill us up and give us the power to do whatever
He calls us to.
GOING DEEPER:
1. What do you fill up
on?
2. Have you established
a regular quiet time alone with God? If not, make it a priority to
establish one.
FURTHER READING:
Jeannine
is a wife and mother of four active boys. She works in the property management
business. Jeannine serves with the Oakwood café and is actively involved in ministry
to those walking through grief.
