Fill'er Up!

“Seek the Lord and His strength; seek His presence continually!” Psalm 105:4

(This devotion is borrowed from Pastor Aaron Witt's (my husband) church newsletter article. It meant a lot to me and I wanted to share it with all of you. Thank you Aaron.)

I have a leaky tire on my car. I know, I should probably get it fixed but just haven’t done it yet. No good excuse, really – I just haven’t taken it in to get it fixed. Instead, when it’s low on air pressure, I simply fill it back up until it needs air again. It’s an ongoing process that’s not going to end until I get the tire fixed.

I actually have a pretty good routine when it comes to putting air in the tire. At first, the tire was good for about a week before it needed filling again. So, I made it a habit that, when I went into town at the beginning of the week, I’d stop by the gas station and fill the tire with air and be on my way.

Lately, though, the tire needs to be filled up on a more frequent basis. Now, it needs air about every two or three days. If it happens to be a week where I’m putting on quite a few miles, I fill the tire with air about every other time I fill the tank with gas. I can simply pull up to the air hose at the gas station since I’m already there.

While this works well, the more frequent need for filling the tire can make things tougher. For example, when I went to the gas station a couple days ago, the tire needed air. Yet, I couldn’t get to the air hose because a huge truck was in my way and, considering that it was delivering fuel, it wasn’t moving any time soon. No big deal, I could just fill it at home with my air compressor or hand pump, even if it’s not as convenient as pulling up to the air hose at the gas station. By the way, yes, I used my hand pump to fill my car tire – and, no, it wasn’t worth the time and effort. Next time I’ll just power up the air compressor for just one tire!

What’s the point in all of this? Well, other than it would be a whole lot easier for me if I’d simply get the tire fixed, that leaky tire is a lot like our faith life. On Sunday mornings, we can get our faith all filled up and be ready to take on this sinful world. However, temptations, the troubles we face, and life in general, can take its toll on our faith and, it’s going to need filled back up. And, like my tire, it’s going to need to be filled up more than once a week.

Psalm 105:4 says, “Seek the Lord and His strength; seek His presence continually!” We need to continually seek the Lord so that our faith may be continually filled up. Of course, worship on Sunday mornings is a great way to be filled up. But, what about the fill-ups that we need on those days not called Sunday? Just as there’s multiple ways for me to fill my tire, there’s multiple ways to fill our faith including reading and studying the Bible, personal and family devotions, fellowship with other believers, and other ways. Thing is, our faith needs to be continually filled up and if we don’t find ways to do it, our faith, like a tire, can end up being flat.

Eventually, I’ll get my tire fixed and won’t have to worry about my regular routine of putting air into it. Likewise, the time will come when our faith will become full and we won’t have temptation and the troubles of this world running it down. That’s the day when we arrive into our heavenly home promised to all those who believe in Jesus. Until then, make sure you do what you can to keep your faith continually filled up!

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for refilling us with Your Word as we run our of air. Help us to continue to find ways to come to You. Amen.