If you are a car owner (or car payment maker at least), do you know without looking, how much gas is in the tank of that vehicle? Though completely obvious, it does stands to reason that even the most exotic vehicles in the world are worth nothing more than mere appearances if they aren't filled with fuel. Fuel puts the "o" in the "go."
Do you give much consideration to what "drives" your life? What is your primary motivation to merely get out of bed in the morning? Or what is the incentive to do more than you have ever done before or to go farther than you have previously ever gone? Effectively, what is the "fuel" that drives you? The variety of responses to those questions are likely as numerous as the number of people asked.
What if the amount of "fuel" currently in your tank was directly proportionate to the amount of "fuel" you have previously expended? In other words, if you emptied your tank completely during the day, then the amount of fuel in your tank the next morning would subsequently be full. Would you willfully "burn all the fuel" every day or would you leave some in the tank?
The scenario is strictly hypothetical (and perhaps even a stretch), but the words of Jesus have me wondering. "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you" (Luke 6:37-38).
Intent on avoiding any sense of consumerism which so frequently plagues spirituality these days, I do find it curious to wonder if most Christians seriously take Jesus at His word. Do those who claim to follow Christ exercise the fullest "measure" of their energy or giftedness in each day? And if they do expend themselves to the fullest, do they find themselves "filled beyond capacity" when the day is done or as they rise the next day? Or is it more likely that Christ-followers play life a little more conservatively and tend to leave "spiritual fuel" in the tank at the end of the day, not fully confident it will be re-supplied?
If we "give" in the pattern of living the way Jesus suggests, it is my confidence we will never lack for the internal drive to give more. Of course, this doesn't preclude the need for rest, but as a matter of principle it seems better to "empty the tank" every day we're given to "drive."
What is your take on the matter? I'd enjoy hearing your thoughts...
1 comment:
I probably leave gas in the tank more often than I would care to admit. But the principle makes perfect sense. I know the more I'm in the word, the more I crave to be there. I have also learned to read more slowly and think more about the words I am reading. Although I don't completely practicing Lectio Divina, I am thankful for your introduction to it. I now read shorter passages and will read them over several times to try and grasp more of their application. It has made my study much more meaningful. I have learned it's not how much reading you try and cram in, it's how much of it actually soaks into your soul that counts. Thanks for the suggestions!
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