Driving in bad weather is a nightmare we all dread. However, if our car has traction control, we can drive up the steepest of hills without a worry in the world.
If the spiritual climate buffets us, and we see God ahead of us moving forward, we can’t afford not to keep up. If we slip and begin moving backward, that makes us a spiritual backslider.
Confess God’s goodness, and he will give us traction control. He will make today the best day of our life.
Bob Harrington, the Chaplin of Bourbon Street, teaches people it is fun to be saved. His biggest concern is about pastors who don’t want to step out of their comfort zone.
We can’t afford to pray or read the Bible only in times of need, to be a Christian who doesn’t fully understand that there are no limits to God. If we are happy so long as there is enough money to make our credit card payments, we are on cruise control on the way to eternity, destined to a life of mediocrity.
Revelation 3:16 tells us he will spit us out of his mouth because we are lukewarm.
Listen to what Strong’s Concordance tells us about the word lukewarm. It is the condition of a soul fluctuating between a torpor and a fervor of love.
Whoa! Torpor? It is a state of physical or mental inactivity...or hibernation by an animal that spends entire seasons snuggled up in a place of comfort.
To pursue excellence, to be successful, Ephesians 4:23 tells us to be constantly renewed in our minds, with a refreshed, positive mental attitude.
The same is true in our natural body. If our cells are not growing, then we are dying. There is no neutral, no middle ground.
General Patton said, “We’re not maintaining...we are running through the enemy...”
God created us to establish his kingdom, not to maintain. He created us to advance the revelation of his Word, for the fulfillment of the great commission.
Like a car, we have a choice of four gears. We can be parked in a torpor, we can be in drive running through the enemy, or we can be in reverse, running away from God.
The most frightful place to be is in neutral, coasting downhill, because then we’re not in control at all.
We need to click on our traction control so that we can move in surplus. That is the amount left when every need has been satisfied. God wants us to move in his surplus.
We are continually growing in our spiritual knowledge, or we are coasting downhill. If God is going on, and he is leaving us behind, we are de facto sliding behind. We are backsliding. He will spew us out of his mouth, for we are not where he wants us to be.
The knowledge of the Word can give us the traction control to follow God wherever he leads. After all, if we’re not with him, he’s leaving us behind.
Let’s get in gear.
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Throwback Thursday: Originally Published on April 2, 2013 in Discipleship