Daily devotion – running out of fuel!
⛽️ Don’t Run on Empty
In my younger years, when I first got my licence and my first car, I cannot tell you how many times I ran out of petrol! Those were the days when petrol stations weren’t all open 24 hours a day. Instead, there was a roster system, with one garage in a fairly large area staying open after hours.
First, you had to find out which garage was on the roster and where it was—and then hope that it was actually open when you arrived!
It was a very nervous experience driving in that direction, praying that you wouldn’t run out of petrol before you got there.
Living that risky lifestyle of constantly chancing running out of petrol was certainly not something I enjoyed.
Yet, as believers, we can sometimes play the same dangerous game with our spiritual fuel.
We can go days, or even longer, without properly reading God’s Word, praying, or spending meaningful time in fellowship with other believers. Before long, we find ourselves spiritually running on fumes.
And the result is much the same as running out of petrol: we conk out, become distressed, need help, and wonder how we got ourselves into that situation.
The Apostle Paul gives us wonderful advice:
“And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.”
— Ephesians 3:19
And again:
“And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit.”
— Ephesians 5:18
Paul contrasts the influence of wine with the influence of the Holy Spirit. The thought in the original language is not simply, “Be filled once.” It carries the idea of continually being filled—being constantly replenished by the Holy Spirit.
The filling of the Holy Spirit is not a one-time experience that we can live on for the rest of our Christian lives. There is certainly a wonderful and significant initial experience of the Holy Spirit, often referred to as the baptism of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:11; Acts 1:5; 11:16).
But Paul is speaking here about an ongoing work in the believer’s life.
We need to be continually filled.
Interestingly, the Greek construction also gives us two important truths. The command is passive—we don’t manufacture the filling ourselves. We receive what God gives. And it is imperative—this isn’t presented as an optional extra for the Christian life.
Much of the weakness, defeat and spiritual lethargy we experience can come from trying to live the Christian life on an empty tank.
So, are you constantly living on the redline?
Are you simply trying to get through each day, hoping you have enough spiritual fuel to make it to the next stop?
Perhaps it is time to pull over and refuel.
Open God’s Word. Read it daily—it is our daily bread. Pray. Spend time with the Lord. Worship Him. Fellowship with His people. Seek the filling of the Holy Spirit.
As we draw near to Him, He draws near to us.
God never intended His children to live spiritually on fumes. He has made available to us His grace, His love, His Word and the fullness of His Holy Spirit.
So stop living merely by getting by.
Start living in the abundance of all that God has for you!
🚗 Don’t wait until you’re empty to refuel. Be continually filled.