Keys to the Kingdom
I distinctly remember my Mom pulling our 1959 Chevy Impala into the gas station and telling the friendly attendant, “Two dollars worth please.“ While the gas was pumping, he would wash the windshield and check the oil. This incident happened around 1966 when I was just a little kid growing up in Missouri. Two dollars of gas didn’t fill up the tank, but it would get us to the grocery store and church several times and probably make a trip to Greenfield to see relatives.
What are you full of? Where I come from, an individual can be full of baloney but I don’t recommend it if you’re a Christ follower. Your testimony won’t amount to anything if you aren’t trustworthy nor speak the truth. And I wouldn’t recommend being full of yourself either — that’s a big turnoff. God‘s Word instructs us to be full of God. “…So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:17-19 NASB).
Believers should have a burning desire to be full of their heavenly Father and represent Him well. If we’re full of God, then we’re full of love and that’s a big drawing card that never fails. We can draw people to Christ Jesus by simply loving on them. “We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in His love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them” (1 John 4:16 NLT).
I remember my Dad cautioning me to be careful at the gas pump and not accidentally fill my tank with diesel instead of unleaded. It’s not a good thing to be filled with the wrong stuff. The New Testament states that a person can be filled with drunkenness, fear, madness, lies, indignation, envy, confusion, and unrighteousness, just to name a few. I ran out of gas a couple of times in the ‘70s and that was a bad deal. There were no cell phones, so I had to hitch a ride to the nearest gas station to fill a borrowed gas can. When I returned to my vehicle and poured the gas in the tank, I had to make sure I’d saved a little bit to pour into the carburetor or it wouldn‘t start.
It’s important for Christians to keep a sharp eye on their spiritual gas gauge. We need to keep our tanks full; we can do that by daily studying God’s Word, living out worship, communing in prayer, being a faithful church partner, and practicing love. Mary’s Song of Praise contained these words, “He has filled the hungry with good things” (Luke 1:53 NLT). Some of those good things are wisdom, joy, all knowledge, comfort, all the fullness of God, and fruits of righteousness, just to name a few. We should be so full of God that love pours all over everyone we’re around.
A believer with an empty love tank simply isn’t in top working condition. And a ‘65 Stingray is disappointing without fuel — that machine was made to run! Christ followers were made to love, so let‘s fill ‘er up and get to loving on people!
The Key: Watch your spiritual gas gauge and keep your love tank filled up.