Let’s suppose we went down to the local car dealership and purchased a brand new car. Then, after we read the manual and saw how expensive it is to purchase gasoline and oil and stuff to keep our car running, we decided to just push the car everywhere ourselves, that would kind of defeat the purpose of having a car, wouldn’t it? Sure, it costs money to fill a car with gas and oil and stuff, but that’s where a car gets its power to run. When we put the proper fuels in our car, it provides us the power we need!
Yet, isn’t that what many people do with God? They become a Christian, and yet when they see how much it costs to truly follow Jesus Christ, they don’t want to pay the price, and so their entire Christian life is just a drudgery to them, like pushing a car everywhere would be. Remember, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13) Christ alone provides us the power we need to accomplish God’s will in our lives. So, no matter what it cost to draw closer to Him – it’s worth it, since He alone is the source of our power and strength!
Someone once said, “A life without Jesus Christ is like an unsharpened pencil – it has no point!” That is exactly true! Just as an automobile depends upon the power it gets from gasoline, we as Christians depend upon the power we get from Christ! We’ll never accomplish much at all in this life until we fully tap into our only source of strength and our complete source of power! But, when we do, there is no limit to what we can do through Him!
And, just as a car needs to be constantly refueled with gasoline, we must daily be refueled by reading God’s Word and letting Him speak to us and guide us in the proper way we should go! Just as purchasing a new car and yet refusing to power it with the proper fuel would be stupid, so is becoming a Christian and yet refusing to rely completely upon our only source of power and strength!