Don’t run on empty — call for a refilling

• How the welcome visit of the heating oil tanker reminds us that we need to be constantly filled with God’s Spirit to live His way — which we can, on the account of Jesus.
• by IAN GREIG writing in FAITH FRAGMENTS

The oil tanker came with a much-needed delivery today. The oil tank level was a few inches short of empty, the night-time temperatures have been dipping close to frost; we needed that refill.

So I was pleased to see the cheerful driver who connected the hose with practised ease using his handset to start the filling operation. He only delivers the oil; it is for us to use it and ask for a refill before we need it.

This is a picture both of Spirit-empowered life — and Spirit-impoverished life. When the Ukraine war started the oil price soared, and we try to do without it as much as possible — which is like our unspiritual striving.

We try to do live our lives in our own strength. We could look to God to empower us, but we feel it’s costly.

Turning to Jesus as Lord IS is a cost to our pride and independence. We can acknowledge Him as our Saviour without going that far…

We may even attend church, hear the prayers and readings, reflect on Jesus’ suffering on the Cross and be thankful for what He has done — in a remote kind of way.

But He doesn’t value our formal worship; He wants a RELATIONSHIP. He died to pay the price for our sin so that we could know God in a real and personal way.

That reaching to Him in faith to find He has already reached down: He sent His Son Jesus. Faith reveals to us God as Father, Jesus as the One who lived our kind of human life, and the Holy Spirit.

Oil in the Bible is often used as a symbol of spiritual endowment or anointing. He is like the spiritual presence of Jesus with us, guiding our thoughts and providing His superior wisdom when we admit ours is lacking.

More than knowing ABOUT Jesus, we need to KNOW Jesus and experience His presence by His Spirit. The oil tanker comes with a bill, but we can ask God to fill us with His Spirit every day — because we can draw on the account of Jesus.

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