A few days ago I told you the tale of the dead battery. My really nice car had a really dead battery. The car looked good, but it had been too long left without attention. Result - dead battery. And not just "a little bit" dead. Really, really dead.
Al had jumpstarted the car last week and let it run for a while. We thought all was well. Wrong. The next day he tried to start it. Dead battery. So he jumpstarted it again and even drove it a little bit. Everything seemed fine.
The next day.......you guessed it. He tried to start it. Dead battery. So he made an appointment with Hunter Volvo in Asheville to get it checked out. Yesterday morning he jumpstarted it again and drove down to Asheville. My car now has a nice new battery! One that actually works!
Without getting too technical (not that I actually could, since what I know about what's underneath the hood of a car wouldn't fill a thimble!), the problem is that when a car sits so long without being started then something happens in the battery that means eventually it won't work at all. Which is what happened with my car. So, I think you can safely assume that I will be starting that car on a regular basis now!!
It occurs to me that this is a very good picture of what happens to our "spiritual batteries" when they are left unattended. Eventually they lose their sensitivity to the "spark" that gets them going. I don't mean that we lose our salvation, but we certainly lose our effectiveness. My car looked fine. The battery looked fine. But it was useless.
All this has brought to mind a children's choir program from years ago. We were doing a musical based on the song "This Little Light of Mine". Each of the children was given a small flashlight to shine at appropriate times during the program. One day, during rehearsal, I had removed all the flashlight batteries. Nobody's flashlight had any light! And we had a good lesson about staying plugged in to the Power Source if our lights were going to shine.
The flashlight won't "light" without a power source. My car won't start without a power source. Our lives won't shine for Jesus unless we're staying plugged in to the Power Source.
How's your spiritual battery doing today?
"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit." (Psalm 51:10-12 ESV, emphasis mine)
"I appeal to you therefore by the mercies of God to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." (Romans 12:1-2 ESV, emphasis mine)
"Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 5:16 ESV, emphasis mine)
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