Getting Your Vehicle Worked On (New Devotional)
I remember my first car. It was a white 1978 Camero. There was a hole in the floor board because my dad left the window open on it for 6 months while it sat at his car lot and the rain softened the floor board so bad that the first time i tried to put on the "Bright Lights" (in older cars the switch was a little pedal on the floor board) my foot went through the floor board and I could see the road. I had that car for about half a year until I tried to kill a bee on the inner windshield with a glass pie pan and cracked the entire windshield.
My next car was my grand dad's 1977 Pontiac Catalina. It was a boat. We could fit 9-10 people in the car comfortably. It was built like a tank. I used to go 4-wheeling in it and go through mud puddles that some of my friends trucks couldn't make it through. It had the most "ghetto" wheel rims too. My friends used to kick the big "Pontiac" sign unside the wheel rims and when i would drive anywhere , you could here me coming almost a mile before I was actually there.
One afternoon, on my way to school, black smoke started rolling out of the hood of the car. Pretty soon, the engine just locked down and I could start it back up. After I had it towed, the service guy asked me if i had ever put any oil in it. He knew I hadn't because I had this puzzled look on my face, like "what is oil?" I had no clue that you were supposed to put oil in the car. I thought that was a one time only deal. I only thought that gas was the thing that you had to keep putting in it, which I also frequently forgot to do and would run out of gas.
I share this with you inorder to share this passage with you. Colossians 2: 6-7 says, "So then, just as you recieved Christ Jesus as Lord, CONTINUE to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness"
The key word here is "CONTINUE". Did you know that you were considered a vehicle by God? How? Well, think about this for a second. Do you really believe that a Non-Christian will ever pick up the Bible to read it and if they did, do you think they would really be able to understand it? Of coarse not!!!!!! We may have been Christians for 10 years and we still need Pastors and Teachers to help us understand it. So, how will non-christians hear about God's Word? THROUGH YOU AND ME!!!! We are the vehicles that carry God's Good News to our friends, our neighbors, our families by the way we live, the actions we choice, the way we speak. All of it is part of God using use to drive His Word around.
Why do you think Peter was the "Rock" of the church and Paul wrote so many books of the New Testament? It was because they understood that they were very important vehicles in carrying God's message to other people. We also are that vehicle, but just like you have to take a car in and get filled up with oil, transmission fluid, water, radiator solution, etc.... We have to continue to maintain our bodies by checking in with God.
Where are you at? Have you forgotten to pull into God's garage and allow Him to inspect you? Are you to afraid are ashamed of what He might find? Are "sputtering" along in life, about ready for a break down? Have you neglected to allow God to be a part of your life. Just as oil flows through the entire motor of engine to keep it running smoothly, God is a neccesity in our "well flowing" life as well. Without God, you will break down and soon, you will broken down in a place that is very difficult to get out of.
The great thing about God though is this. There is nothing that He can't fix. He is the perfect mechanic. What ever it is that you have gone through or are about to go through, God has you covered. You have "Roadside Assistance" on your side. But the main part of this passage is for you to not have to use God as the "Roadside Assistance" If you keep God flowing through your life through a regular moment with Him every day, you will avoid that break down most likely. That's not to say that we will be without stress and pressure and the occasional breakdown, but when we do go through it, we are covered.
My Question to you tonight is this: How are you treating the vehicle God needs to use? Have you pulled in lately for a quick tune up? Are you to afraid to pull in and allow God to see the "REAL" you? Can you feel your life starting to sputter or are you already standing there alone on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere wondering if any one will stop to help you?
My next car was my grand dad's 1977 Pontiac Catalina. It was a boat. We could fit 9-10 people in the car comfortably. It was built like a tank. I used to go 4-wheeling in it and go through mud puddles that some of my friends trucks couldn't make it through. It had the most "ghetto" wheel rims too. My friends used to kick the big "Pontiac" sign unside the wheel rims and when i would drive anywhere , you could here me coming almost a mile before I was actually there.
One afternoon, on my way to school, black smoke started rolling out of the hood of the car. Pretty soon, the engine just locked down and I could start it back up. After I had it towed, the service guy asked me if i had ever put any oil in it. He knew I hadn't because I had this puzzled look on my face, like "what is oil?" I had no clue that you were supposed to put oil in the car. I thought that was a one time only deal. I only thought that gas was the thing that you had to keep putting in it, which I also frequently forgot to do and would run out of gas.
I share this with you inorder to share this passage with you. Colossians 2: 6-7 says, "So then, just as you recieved Christ Jesus as Lord, CONTINUE to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness"
The key word here is "CONTINUE". Did you know that you were considered a vehicle by God? How? Well, think about this for a second. Do you really believe that a Non-Christian will ever pick up the Bible to read it and if they did, do you think they would really be able to understand it? Of coarse not!!!!!! We may have been Christians for 10 years and we still need Pastors and Teachers to help us understand it. So, how will non-christians hear about God's Word? THROUGH YOU AND ME!!!! We are the vehicles that carry God's Good News to our friends, our neighbors, our families by the way we live, the actions we choice, the way we speak. All of it is part of God using use to drive His Word around.
Why do you think Peter was the "Rock" of the church and Paul wrote so many books of the New Testament? It was because they understood that they were very important vehicles in carrying God's message to other people. We also are that vehicle, but just like you have to take a car in and get filled up with oil, transmission fluid, water, radiator solution, etc.... We have to continue to maintain our bodies by checking in with God.
Where are you at? Have you forgotten to pull into God's garage and allow Him to inspect you? Are you to afraid are ashamed of what He might find? Are "sputtering" along in life, about ready for a break down? Have you neglected to allow God to be a part of your life. Just as oil flows through the entire motor of engine to keep it running smoothly, God is a neccesity in our "well flowing" life as well. Without God, you will break down and soon, you will broken down in a place that is very difficult to get out of.
The great thing about God though is this. There is nothing that He can't fix. He is the perfect mechanic. What ever it is that you have gone through or are about to go through, God has you covered. You have "Roadside Assistance" on your side. But the main part of this passage is for you to not have to use God as the "Roadside Assistance" If you keep God flowing through your life through a regular moment with Him every day, you will avoid that break down most likely. That's not to say that we will be without stress and pressure and the occasional breakdown, but when we do go through it, we are covered.
My Question to you tonight is this: How are you treating the vehicle God needs to use? Have you pulled in lately for a quick tune up? Are you to afraid to pull in and allow God to see the "REAL" you? Can you feel your life starting to sputter or are you already standing there alone on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere wondering if any one will stop to help you?