By Dana Rongione
Published November 2, 2008
Christianity
Rating: Unrated
Dana Rongione
Dana Rongione is a full-time Christian freelance writer. For faith-filled messages, check out http://www.danarongione.blogspot.com. For more information on working from home, check out www.productsupplycenter.com/web62203.View all articles by Dana Rongione
Gas prices. It seems like that's all some people can talk about. You turn on the news, and you hear about gas prices. You pick up the paper, and you read about gas prices. Frankly, I'm tired of hearing about it. Does the constant rise in gas prices affect me? Of course. Am I aggravated that it takes more money to feed my car than it does to feed my family? Absolutely. But, how does complaining about it help any of us? How does it help to keep such a negative topic in the forefront of our minds day after day? It doesn't help us at all. In fact, it hinders us from focusing on more important things, like spiritual fuel.I don't know a lot about cars, but I do know that they must have gas before they will run. No fuel, no go! Our bodies work in the same way. God created us in such a way that our bodies need nourishment from food in order to work properly. So, acknowledging what we know about our physical bodies needing fuel, why should we think our spiritual bodies are any different? Why do we often deprive our faith of the fuel it needs to grow and thrive?In Philippians 3, Paul said, "Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended." In other words, he's saying, "I've not arrived. I still have a lot of work to do on my faith." I think we can all say "Amen" to Paul's statement. I believe we can agree that we have not reached the level of
spiritual maturity that we long for. We possess the faith, but are we fueling that faith?The Bible compares the Christian walk with a race. So, let me ask you this question: how often are you making pit stops? I don't watch much auto racing, but more than once, I've seen a driver lose the race because his car ran out of gas. You can almost hear the conversation he has with himself as he passes that last pit stop. "I can make it a little father. I have enough fuel to finish. If I just keep going, I'll win this thing."Good thought. Bad plan. By not giving his car what it needed, he cost himself the race. Not only did he not win, but he didn't even get to finish the race.Aren't we like that sometimes, too? So busy with our daily demands and weekly routines, we bypass our spiritual fuel. We know we need to read the Bible, but it's often just too difficult to fit in into our schedule. Our daily time with the Lord is interrupted by phone calls, sick children, or job emergencies.Day after day, we struggle through, forsaking our spiritual fuel, then wondering why life is so difficult and why we can't seem to gain any ground in our spiritual walk.God has shown me time and time again that if I will devote the time to fueling my spiritual man, He will give me the time and energy to accomplish everything else on my "to do" list. Try it out. See what happens when your spiritual tank is full. It will cost you some time, but you'll soon discover that it's well worth the price.
Published November 2, 2008
Christianity
Rating: Unrated
Dana Rongione
Dana Rongione is a full-time Christian freelance writer. For faith-filled messages, check out http://www.danarongione.blogspot.com. For more information on working from home, check out www.productsupplycenter.com/web62203.View all articles by Dana Rongione
Gas prices. It seems like that's all some people can talk about. You turn on the news, and you hear about gas prices. You pick up the paper, and you read about gas prices. Frankly, I'm tired of hearing about it. Does the constant rise in gas prices affect me? Of course. Am I aggravated that it takes more money to feed my car than it does to feed my family? Absolutely. But, how does complaining about it help any of us? How does it help to keep such a negative topic in the forefront of our minds day after day? It doesn't help us at all. In fact, it hinders us from focusing on more important things, like spiritual fuel.I don't know a lot about cars, but I do know that they must have gas before they will run. No fuel, no go! Our bodies work in the same way. God created us in such a way that our bodies need nourishment from food in order to work properly. So, acknowledging what we know about our physical bodies needing fuel, why should we think our spiritual bodies are any different? Why do we often deprive our faith of the fuel it needs to grow and thrive?In Philippians 3, Paul said, "Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended." In other words, he's saying, "I've not arrived. I still have a lot of work to do on my faith." I think we can all say "Amen" to Paul's statement. I believe we can agree that we have not reached the level of
spiritual maturity that we long for. We possess the faith, but are we fueling that faith?The Bible compares the Christian walk with a race. So, let me ask you this question: how often are you making pit stops? I don't watch much auto racing, but more than once, I've seen a driver lose the race because his car ran out of gas. You can almost hear the conversation he has with himself as he passes that last pit stop. "I can make it a little father. I have enough fuel to finish. If I just keep going, I'll win this thing."Good thought. Bad plan. By not giving his car what it needed, he cost himself the race. Not only did he not win, but he didn't even get to finish the race.Aren't we like that sometimes, too? So busy with our daily demands and weekly routines, we bypass our spiritual fuel. We know we need to read the Bible, but it's often just too difficult to fit in into our schedule. Our daily time with the Lord is interrupted by phone calls, sick children, or job emergencies.Day after day, we struggle through, forsaking our spiritual fuel, then wondering why life is so difficult and why we can't seem to gain any ground in our spiritual walk.God has shown me time and time again that if I will devote the time to fueling my spiritual man, He will give me the time and energy to accomplish everything else on my "to do" list. Try it out. See what happens when your spiritual tank is full. It will cost you some time, but you'll soon discover that it's well worth the price.
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