Theology for Everybody: RomansSample

Many years ago, when my wife, Grace, and I were new to ministry, we were young, married, and broke. We started having kids, and we needed two cars but couldn’t afford two new cars. So, we prayed, “God, please give us a second car.”

A little while later, someone came up to us and said, “I have a car for you.” It had a couple hundred thousand miles on it, but it still ran great. I didn’t ask any questions about it. As long as it had four wheels, it was perfect for meeting our needs.

I went to fill the gas tank, but I wasn’t sure what fuel went in it. I had three options: diesel, regular, and premium. I knew it was not diesel, so I used regular gas. I started driving the car, and it ran really rough and sounded terrible. The previous owner asked how the car was running, and I told him, “Not good.”

He asked me what kind of gas I put in it, and when I told him regular, he said I needed to put premium gas in it. I couldn’t afford that, so we got rid of the car. But that’s not the moral of the story. This motor was built to run on a specific fuel. What would happen if I put diesel in it? I would seize it up. When I put the regular in it, it ran really rough. If I had put premium in it, it would’ve run unbelievably well.

God built your soul and life to run on a fuel source, and you also have three choices: demonic, flesh, or Holy Spirit. If you run on the demonic, you will be a bitter, angry, self-righteous person who self-destructs. If you live according to the flesh, you will have a rough life and make foolish decisions, bringing pain and harm to yourself and damage to others. If you live according to the Spirit, your life will run significantly better. You will have the fruit of the Spirit, the power of the Spirit, and the presence of the Spirit.

Do you need endurance today? When you live in the Spirit, you can have the endurance to face people and circumstances. Do you need encouragement today? The Holy Spirit wants to meet with you to give you what you need. He will enable you to live in harmony with others, to welcome others, and to evangelize others. Through the Spirit, you will have hope, joy, and peace.

Today’s Reflection

Which of the three sources of “fuel” are you running on? How can you move to live by the Spirit or live more in the Spirit in your daily life than you do right now?