I told a story quite a few months ago. A story about a boy becoming a man. Well, like most stories, this one hasn't ended yet. (If you never read the story here is the gist: A boy fell in love, had his heart broken, then after much time he started to become the man he should have been all along.) Now to being the continuation of the story. Let's begin with a car. When you own a car, you must keep it maintained so that it will not break down suddenly when you least expect it. If you change the oil regularly, keep your tires inflated to the right pressure, etc. you will be in good shape. But say you don't do these things. What will eventually happen? Yeah, it will break. I recently had to replace the serpentine belt and the alternator in my car. That was a pain. First I had to remove it which consisted of taking out parts of the engine that shouldn't need to be touched to remove the alternator. Then after all this, I got to go spend money on new parts. If you have had to do something similar to this then you know exactly how I feel. If you haven't, then just wait. It will eventually happen. It's inevitable. Trust me. The point I am trying to get across is that to own a car that keeps working, you must put time and work into it. So, why have I told you this? You are probably thinking this is all just common sense and maybe it is supposed to be. But how many people actually do the work? Granted I know a lot of car maintenance cannot be done by someone who just has basic knowledge of cars but let's take changing the oil for instance. Changing the oil is one of the most basic car maintaining skills. How many people actually change their oil instead of taking it to a mechanic to have them do it? Probably only a few people. I don't blame them either because it is not fun. It takes time and a little bit of work. But the benefit of doing it yourself is the feeling of accomplishment and you save money. Now put this into a life situation. Say the car is God and you are the engine. What happens if you stop giving yourself fuel or stop maintaining your relationship with God? You (the engine) stop working and God (the car) can't move. Eventually you will become (to put it in car terms) a lemon. You will be useless. If you are not constantly seeking God and keeping a relationship with Him, you will break down. The process of becoming a man from a boy will start to reverse. The man will start to become a boy again. If you are not keeping your relationship with God then when you offer yourself to Him to be used, there is no way He will want to use you. God wants a relationship with us. He is a relational God. He loves us and would like to spend time with us to keep us on our feet as we are going through difficult times. The past year has been a tough one for me but I know that if I keep my relationship strong with God then He will bring joy in the end. I do not know when it will come or even how it will come but if you trust God then you can be sure it will be great.
If you have the time, I would like you to read Hebrews 6:1-12. I wrote all of the above before I had read this. I think it is very good to read and applies to what I have written above. God moves in amazing ways. Let Him.
-- Kendall
6 Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2 and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And this we will do if God permits. 4 For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. 7 For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. 8 But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.
9 Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation. 10 For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. 11 And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
