Fill It Up With Regular
The other day I needed some fuel for my car. I usually go to self-serve gas-bars, but my gas gauge was reading near empty and I didn’t want to risk being stranded, so I pulled into a full-service station and told the attendant to “fill it up with regular.” After the words were out of my mouth, I suddenly thought of how common they are. I’ve personally said that thousands of times and have heard others say them many times as well.
Because of the way my brain is wired, I began to reflect on the general attitude that this betrays in my life. I hate to admit it, but much of the time, I’m content with the minimum I need to get by, at the least cost. I know the link between my gasoline purchasing habits and my spiritual life is tenuous at best, but it did get me thinking.
Many Christians tend to find a spiritual plateau of some sort and live there. We find a comfortable place on the theological spectrum. We settle into a church fellowship. We establish a pattern in our devotional life. We engage the community enough to keep our conscience easy. And we live there.
Now, on one hand, I don’t want to be too critical of all this, because it represents a significant difference from “the old life” which we once lived in the flesh. But I believe there is a real danger in settling for something far less than God intends for us. When we look honestly at the following passages, we’d never come to the conclusion that God saves us to find and live for our personal and spiritual comfort:
- In John 10:10, Jesus declared: “I have come that they may have
life, and have it to the full.” Are we living life to the full, or have
we settled for “regular?”
- In Ephesians 3:20, Paul wrote about “him who is able to do
immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power
that is at work within us...” Are we using our God-given imaginations
to discover just how immeasurable His power in us, or are we satisfied
with the common grace of physical and mental resources?
- Philippians 1:25-26 gives Paul’s commitment to the Christians
in Philippi “...I will continue with all of you for your progress and
joy in the faith, so that through my being with you again your joy in
Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me.” Does our joy overflow on
account of the ministry of God’s word, or does it just come through as
the “same old, same old?”
- In 1Timothy 1:14, Paul shared some words of testimony about
God’s work in his life: “The grace of our Lord was poured out on me
abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.”
Are we experiencing the grace, faith and love of the Lord in abundant
measure, or do we limit what God can do to us, because of what He might
want to do through us?
- Colossians 1:28-29 contains what amounts to Paul’s mission
statement: “We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all
wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end
I labour, struggling with all His energy, which so powerfully works in
me.” Have we any desire, let alone experience in “struggling with all
His energy” so that we can accomplish His design of conforming people
to the likeness of the Lord Jesus?
- Speaking of struggling, Hebrews 12:4 reminds us of another struggle: “In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.” Do we find in ourselves even the desire to struggle against sin to the point of laying down our lives, if God calls us to that?
Who would have thought filling my car up with gas would lead to all this, but they’re good questions. Ones which will, no doubt, come back to haunt me the next time I say, “Fill it up with regular.”
Ron Hughes
© January 2008
