07.24.08

(Update of a devotional from 1998)

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” - Matthew 4:1-4.

Just a day or two ago in Cookeville, Tennessee three thieves ran into a problem while making their getaway. The three were in the process of stealing a recliner from a Goodwill store. Now, they did succeed in loading the recliner into their truck and they were able to begin to drive away but that was when their problems started. Before leaving the parking lot of the store the truck ran out of gas and by that time someone had called the police about the break-in. They were all arrested and have been charged with the attempted theft.

Some of you may never have run out of gasoline in your car. It has only happened to me once and that was enough! I was 17 years old and a friend had set up a double date for us. We were on our way to pick up the girls and I was in a hurry. It was a complete shock when the car began to spit and sputter and then die. Needless to say we were late for the date, and the evening turned out badly which was probably for the best.

Spiritually we can run out of gas as well. We are busy people with jobs, children, their activities, our activities, church, our responsibilities at church, and church activities. We are preoccupied with the immediate. Then it happens, a crisis comes into our lives and we find that the spiritual tank is empty. We turn to the Lord and try to fill it back up but the crisis is such that everything we take in immediately goes back out. We put on our happy faces and pretend that everything is okay but really we are just barely crawling, trying to make it through another day. Sound familiar?

The fact is we can’t wait until that storm blows in to fill up the tank. Just as we need physical food frequently in order to live we also need spiritual food. We need that daily intake of reading, studying, and meditating upon the Word of God. We also need to pray every day. Jesus says to pray in the Lord’s Prayer, the model prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread (Matthew 6:11).” In Mark 1:35 we are told, “Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.” Jesus had a quiet time and we need one every day too - preferably early in the morning before beginning our day.

Maybe it’s time to fill up the tank? Don’t let the devil catch you when you’re, out of gas!