Sunday, February 15, 2009

Spare Tire

Do I treat God like my spare tire? Do I hide Him underneath the outer shell? Do I just want Him when I need Him? Do I just want to use Him to fix my flat and then throw Him back under the truck because He looks different from the rest of the world? Do I neglect Him and then expect Him to be there when bad things happen?

I assumed this spare was good to go. When it was taken from under the bed and put on the truck and then required to handle the weight of the truck it went flat. It looked good under the truck but its true character was revealed under the pressure and weight of the truck. If I had not neglected it things would have been different. I would have saved time, energy and frustration. It accumulated dirt and salt while under the truck. It was exposed to moisture and the combination resulted in ugly rust and deterioration. So much so I couldn't even get the valve stem cap off with my hand. We had air to put in it yet I couldn't get it inside the tire where we needed it.

Our faith can easily follow this example. We get saved and know Jesus as our savior. We know He is always with us. Things are fine in our life for some time and we begin to neglect our time spent with Him. Time goes by and subconsciously we think we really don't need Him or we just flat out forget about Him. No prayer time, no devotion time, no time in His Word. Sin begins to creep into our lives. Our faith is getting rusty and low on air and we don't even realize it. We still go to church on Sunday and maybe even serve and give our tithes and offerings. Our faith seems good in our eyes and probably in the eyes of others. The relationship has weakened and suffered and it is about to be exposed. The pressure of life and the weight of tragedy hits. We become angry. We doubt God. We say things we shouldn't say. We blame others. We may revert back to old habits and addictions for our security and peace. We don't exhibit the likeness of Christ because we have neglected the relationship. We slide back to resemble the old man. Our hearts become hardened from the sin in our lives and the lack of time spent with Him. He is right there beside us but we can't, or won't, or don't, allow Him in our hearts because the entryway is corroded.

It took a friend and a tool to get that cap off the tire. I believe it takes the same to get that faith back in our hearts. The love and encouragement of a friend and the tool of devotion, commitment and prayer.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice web page and blogs dude!! I looked back thru your blogs about our retreat and they sparked some great memories.

Every Saturday since the retreat I open my journal and pray over the prayer list I made at the close of our time there. I find myself laughing and crying ever time...God is awesome!!

Kenny said...

Thanks Rod. You made the weekend special. You blessed us all but I know one man saw Jesus through your actions. I pray there are many more weekends to share together.