This past week I was in my kitchen searching for a particular flashlight. Not the typical larger flashlight but a smaller mini-sized one I knew I had placed somewhere. After a thirty-minute search, I found it pushed way back inside one of the kitchen drawers I hardly ever open. You know, the proverbial "junk drawer." We all have one. I was happy to discover I had not thrown it away. The last time it was used, I had put brand new AA batteries in it so I knew I was good to go, or so I thought! I flipped the switch to turn it on but the light did not come on. Nothing. Not even a faint glow. I knew I had put brand new batteries in it before I stored it. I figured the batteries must have lost power from being idle for so long. I unscrewed the top and began violently shaking it in an attempt to dislodge the 2 AA batteries. OH! What a mess. I had battery acid and pieces of brown corrosion falling into my hands, on my lap, and onto the floor. The entire flashlight walls, spring, switch, and the bulb was covered in a caustic mess! As you know, batteries are not designed to be idle. They are designed to be used. My flashlight had become useless. In the same sense, we could use the following analogy of ourselves. God has designed us to be the light in the world. We were not meant to remain idle or to be spiritually tucked away from everybody and everything as followers of Christ. As a believer, you have a light to shine amid the darkness. Are you shinning it?
You and I have been given the light of the gospel, the Word of God, full of grace, truth, knowledge, and wisdom. Have you tucked it away in a drawer of your mind, keeping it only for yourself and looking to it only when you need something? I am not suggesting any of you be a Billy Graham (unless you've been called) but we are to reach out and share the gospel, if by nothing else through action or a deed of love, and when led by the Holy Spirit, to be a witness and shine our mini flashlight! I know many will feel unsure, even uneasy at my last remark. Some may be quietly questioning, "Oh here she goes, the testimony, witnessing, talking to people about Jesus thing. Well, count me out because I am no speaker and wouldn't even know what to say or even muster the courage to approach someone." Calm yourself. I am not instructing anyone to become a radical witness and go knocking door to door. I am, however, asking you to check yourself. Are you still energized regarding your belief in Christ? Are you as thankful to be saved today as you were on day one? Do you ever have a hunger to share what you have learned from the Scriptures or are you simply satisfied with tuning into a favorite preacher on Sunday mornings or maybe catching a show or two of Christian radio and calling it sufficient? Is your spiritual battery draining? Worse, is it dead? Or God forbid, has it corroded altogether?
I do not think any of us will be able to convince the King of Kings we love Him if we won't open His letters to us (our Bible) or confess our undying love. The Word is the very source that protects, strengthens, secures, energizes us, and keeps us in communication with Him. Let's look at another short analogy. If you were in the US military- wrote home to your true love - but never heard back from them while you were away, then returning home, found your letters had never been opened and sitting on a dusty shelf, would you be so naive as to think that person really loves you?? Jesus KNOWS which of you loves Him. You do not want to stand before Him and hear the voice of God, "I PRESERVED MY WORD THROUGH THOUSANDS OF YEARS, DOZENS OF GENERATIONS, AND AT THE COST OF MILLIONS OF LIVES TO GET IT INTO YOUR HANDS... AND YOU NEVER CARED ABOUT ME ENOUGH TO PICK IT UP AND READ IT??" That's a sobering thought! If you'll be honest with yourself, you have to admit, the depth of the love of which you feel for Him is measured by the length of time you're willing to spend with Him. There's not much else to say. The deeper your love the more time you want with Him. We all have busy schedules, more so than ever before, but humans will always make time for what they love. How deep is your love? It is a spiritual trap to love less than all of our hearts. You see, loss of love for the things of God happens gradually over a period of time, just as the AA batteries in my flashlight didn't fizzle out overnight. Jesus said to Matthew in chapter 22: 37-38, "You shall love (that's not a suggestion, it is a command) the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength." This is the first and great commandment." Some of you may be willing to confess that you love God but don't feel it as deeply as this command suggests. Do you know the true test of your love? Easy. The level of obedience. 2 John 1:16 "And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love." When our spiritual battery is charged, our level of obedience is great. When our battery is low, our passion for Christ is low, our obedience is low.
It is amazing how little it takes to break the contact between a battery and the object to which it is supposed to supply power. Where do you stand today? Has your zeal for God and His Word been overtaken by worldly corrosion? You can be refreshed by opening your Bible often, plugging into God's Word, and learning what it says. Ask God for wisdom and understanding. He will teach you. Humbly submit yourself. Walk in the Light as He is in the light. We must be constant in season and out of season and the only way to guarantee that is to be fully charged at all times. Let the believers begin each day spiritually charged, lamps full of oil, walking in obedience, and watching and waiting for our Lord's return!
Until He Comes,
-Pat-
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