"Let her who runs on fumes take heed, lest she end up on the side of the road."
I did say my thoughts on running out of gas might take 2 parts. As I've thought about these incidents over and over again the past few weeks another verse kept popping into my mind. 1 Corinthians 10:12 says: "Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands, take heed lest he fall."
Again, so many thoughts go along with this verse as I apply it to my life. First of all, spiritually.... we get nowhere...we go nowhere ... without God. Just like our cars won't go without gas -- our souls can't go without God. He is our source of power. Just as a car needs fuel to move forward, so our souls need spiritual fuel to move closer to God and our home in heaven.
In Ephesians 3:16, Paul prays for the Ephesian Christians "that according to the riches of His glory He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being." God gives us the strength to live a faithful Christian life. But this is not randomly given. It is given to those who seek to serve Him. If we don't fill our tanks -- we wind up on the side of the road. Just like we have to take our cars to a gas station -- we have to take our souls to Christ.
I thought I knew my car well enough to get one more trip out of it ... to go just a little further. I thought I could wait just a little longer before I took action. Do we sometimes do that with our spiritual life? We think we know ourselves and we can go a little further without including our Lord in what we are doing.
Maybe we think we don't need Jesus right now. Maybe we think we're doing pretty well on our own. But in the scripture quoted earlier, if we think we are standing -- we better be careful because we might fall. We don't stand on our own. It is through our Savior that we stand at all.
Another scripture that comes to mind is found in Isaiah 5:21 "Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight." Some of us may think we have a little more time, like I thought with my car. But my thinking didn't get me home. I couldn't go any further running on fumes.
Honestly, it was out of neglect that I ran out of gas. It was no one's fault but my own. If we fail to attend worship, we are neglecting our God. If we fail to study His word - if we fail to seek the love we find throughout the scriptures - if we fail to talk to our Heavenly Father - then we are neglecting our spiritual lives. And folks, we are going to end up stranded on the side of the road!
Not only can I relate to this because of my car, but I can relate it to my spiritual life. There was a time in my life when I didn't put Christ first. I became so indifferent, I didn't think I even needed Him anymore. I had put God and all things spiritual out of my life. It was a long time ago -- but I still remember. I almost ended up alone and far from any promise of an eternal home with God.
But just like I had help with my car (on both occasions), I had help with my spiritual life. Family, friends and people who were total strangers at the time - loved God enough to love my soul enough to stop on the side of the road ... they took me in ... they showed God's love to me. They gave me fuel ... and I realized I needed it. When I came to that realization, I began to fuel up more and more often. I praise God for those who got me back on the road again!!!
We have to be careful every day. We have to pay attention to our tank ... and make sure we don't let ourselves get empty. We have to understand we can't run of fumes. We can use a lot of fuel up even doing good works for Him -- but we have to stop and fill ourselves back with scripture and prayer and wonderful Christian friends who give us encouragement to keep on going.
We can't allow ourselves to drift away - to become lackadaisical like I did. That is a very dangerous position to be in! God won't magically fill up your tank. But I promise if you truly put Him first .. if you seek to learn of Christ .. and are willing to follow Him ...you will be "strengthened by His power through His Spirit in your inner being."
Christ above all things,
Robin
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