This morning it finally happened. I can honestly say that it has never happened to me, at least I can't remember it ever happening. I ran out of gas. First, I must give you all the pertinent information, so you will have a clear picture of what brought me to this point. I drive an older car, a 1992 Ford Crown Victoria. Great car, it has gotten me from point A to point B for a few years now. But the electronic gas gauage is broken. It tells me the miles till empty, which can literally read a full tank with only five or ten gallons in the tank. Or, it can read near empty with a good amount of gas. The gallons left feature is just as unreliable. Anyway, it read over 132 miles till empty, then dipped to 34. Then I ran out! I managed to get a good way to work, but still a half mile from the nearest station. So, I called my wife and told her to be ready to come with the lawn mower gas can. Then I decided to walk back to that station, and I had to buy a small gas can, plus $2 in gas. Then I walked back to the car, over a mile, total walking distance! I emptied the gas in the car, and it started up. All's well that ends well. My wife didn't have to drive the nearly 20 miles to help me out.
But, as you can tell from my title today, it forced me to get some exercise. Now, we all know that exercise is a good thing, but it takes determination and a will set like flint to make it a regular discipline. That's the hard part for me. Yet, funny how our circumstances can force us to take action. For me, it was an empty tank of gas. For others, it might me a threat of diabetes, or heart problems. But, someday, sometime, trouble will rear it's ugly head, and when it does, it pays to be in good shape. Today, I found out the hard way that I am not.
We do the same thing spiritually, don't we? We often let our spiritual tanks run dry. How often do we neglect our relationship with the Lord, neglect reading his Word, the Bible? How often do we neglect spending time with Him in prayer? We don't spend time in worship personally. We allow spiritual laziness to set in, and it dulls our sensitivity to the Holy Spirit. There will be crisis times in our lives, and in the lives of those around us who may need our prayers, but we often are so stopped up with the cares of this life and our own stuff that we can't hear the still, small voice of God calling us to pray for people in what is called a kairos moment. Kairos is a Greek word from the New Testament meaning "an opportune or seasonable time". This is different than the other Greek word for time, chronos, which simply refers to chronological time. There are times when I sense that God is calling me to special moments of prayer. Maybe to pray for someone in particular, or for several people. Sometimes, I don't even know what I am praying about! But God calls us to these times. That is why it is so urgent to "not run out of gas" spiritually. We need to be shaped up for the task at hand.
So, are you low on gas today? Take the time to steal away with the Lord and pray. Grab a Bible and read it. Take the Word of God in your spirit. Spend some time in personal worship, just you and the Lord Jesus. You are "filling up the tank" when you do these.
That's it for today. I pray that this has sparked someone into investing more into their relationship with God today. God bless!
4 comments:
I laughed as I read your blog because the same thing happened to me yesterday except I was trying out a new car for my wife.
We were about to pull out of the lot when I noticed the gas guage was on empty. I called it to the attention of the saleperson who said,"This KIA gets great mileage. You'll have enough gas to take it to pick up your son from football practice and get back."
Taking him at his word, I pulled into traffic and my wife and I picked up my son at his practice. Right as we pulled into the school parking lot, the gas guage warning light came on. He piled into the car and we immediately started driving back.
Within two miles, that small little KIA (Korean for hunkajunk) quit in the middle of an intersection.
My son looked at me and said, "Gee, Dad, you ran outta gas."
"No, I didn't, son," I replied. I picked up my phone and called the dealership telling them where to pick up their car. Immediately the owner came out of pick me up in his personal luxury car and was very apologetic. He kept telling me what a great deal he'd make on the car he was driving.
He was the one who got all the exercise. He kept jumping to the conclusion that we were going to buy a car from him.
Great blog, there buddy!
Yes, we all need the exercise..spiritually and otherwise.
I know that I do.
I ran out of gas once, luckily I coasted into the drive way of an older gentleman that was kind enough to sell me two gallons at a dollar per gallon. As I was siphening the gas, for my first time even, I sucked in a mouthful! I spit gas all over the place and burped regular for days!
Good story Jeff!
Well said, thanks! Running out of gas gets your attention to a number of life principles. Thanks!
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