Pentecost 33 The Fuel We Run On

[HKHaugan]

Pentecost 33 The Fuel We Run On

One time we started back from the mountains and had filled up on the way. When we got to that point where I-26 meets I-95 the engine started sputtering so we pulled over. We prayed and a bit later the engine started. But a few miles on it started sputtering again. We were able to get to a small town named St.George. We got it to a station and it stopped completely. What the mechanic discovered was water in the gas but the interesting thing is that was not what he told us. He said that there was serious need to change a part that would cost $250.

A young black man was sitting there and when the mechanic went inside to look at something else he told us that water in the gas was the problem. He told us to go across the street to a drugstore and buy a bottle of rubbing alcohol and pour it in the gas tank. We did. After letting it sit a minute we started the car and it ran smoothly. The mechanic came back and we said ‘thank you for looking at the car but it seems our problem was water in the gas.” He was not happy but we had no more problems and made it home just fine.

This was a lesson in many ways. First, a car that works is a marvelous machine. But when it doesn’t work it is useless. Second, there is always someone out there somewhere ready to exploit you. Third, but there is also a reason that we are in a place, a time and a situation that calls for more than we have in us. Fourth, there is someone always watching out for us personally who knows our situation. Fifth, the fuel we run on may not be pure. We start out with everything we need but the fuel we start with causes us to miss the trajectory God set for us when He created us.

Sin is the impure fuel that we run on until it causes our minds and hearts to cramp up. There is no question that some of what is offered outside of God works for a moment, a week or even longer but it always end up in an unfulfilled self, an emptiness, a lonely void that that can only be satisfied by personally relating to the One who created us.

That relationship with God in Jesus is the only one providing the pure fuel we need to run the way our minds and hearts were designed to run. He gives us a personal Spirit who fills that void. When Jesus said He would give us a Counselor, a personal motivator, whom He guaranteed would lead from within, He meant the Holy Spirit, His Spirit, the Spirit of Truth. That is why He said the Kingdom of God is within. It is also what He meant when He said to the Samaritan woman at the well, “Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst—not ever. The water I give will be an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life (Jn.4:14 The Message Bible)." …………Stay tuned.