A flat battery

I had to replace the battery on my car on Sunday. Now, that statement is not quite true. I didn’t have to replace the battery. I could have said to the mechanic type person, ‘Yeah, thanks for that mate; but just leave the old one there, it’ll be okay.’ I have to get a fill of petrol sometime this week; but I don’t have to get more petrol. Your right, Pastor John is once more beginning to talk jibberish. Of course you have to replace a dead battery and fill the car full of petrol otherwise you are not going to get anywhere.

Hmmm? I wonder how many people who say they are Christian have had a spiritual battery check and filled up with petrol lately? A reading from one of my devotional books struck me yesterday morning: ‘May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.’ 2 Thessalonians 3:5. Sorry, I have claimed this little verse its mine!

These words come after the writer – Paul – has asked for prayer so that God’s mission might flourish everywhere. He seeks their support in being protected from wickedness and reminds the church at Thessalonica that God is faithful and that he will guard us from evil.

In our busy lives I am always fearful that we are trying to be good Christian people without regularly taking on fuel for the trip. How is the battery – our prayer life? How much fuel is in the tank – reading of the Scriptures? What is the tread like on the tyres – meeting, sharing and being open to others?

The latest gadget for our cars is of course a Satellite Navigation system. May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ. How is our Sat Nav system going? Is the Lord directing your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ?

I love the passion of St Paul. He was full on for Jesus! So much so that then and even now many people can’t stand the bloke! If he was an Aussie, he would have fitted the tall poppy syndrome and we would have chopped him down long ago! I think that it was the great hymn writer Charles Wesley, who said that it was his desire to be so on fire for Jesus that people would come from miles around just to watch him burn.

If you had cut Paul – or either of the Wesley brothers – they would have bled mission. It was all they knew. Paul’s constant prayer was to have the way clear so that the message could be proclaimed and that the good news of Christ’s love might be transmitted and heard far and wide.

May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ. Are you making space for the Lord to speak into your heart? If we don’t, we do so at an enormous risk and potentially enormous cost, because our hearts have to be directed and filled with something.

There are so many TV shows these days that show human bodies disfigured, butchered and cut open that we have become immune to it. Nothing shocks us anymore. It is so for the subject of love. We have become engorged with so much love/lust that this has become our norm. We have allowed the bar to drop far too low and we are satisfied with too little.

What does the love of God mean for you? How is it being seen in your life? If you were a poster boy/girl for Jesus how is the ad’ campaign going right now? I have never suggested that it is an easy road and there are easier gigs, but I have found that it is worth the journey and that the steadfastness of Christ is enough for me to press on.

I didn’t have to replace the battery. I could have left the car in the driveway; maybe sat in it occasionally to remind me of the good old days. Looks good, but is totally useless.