Plug In

14 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; 17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; 19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. 20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, 21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

Ephesians 3:14-21

There’s a boy who stole my mama-heart. My son’s best friend, Ben. He started coming to our house when they were 8 or 9 years old. As they got older, he would stay weeks at a time in the summer, and he has always been just a joy to have around. I started calling him my third son, and though his family loves him dearly, in my heart, he is one of my boys. He’s left us to serve his country and we all wait eagerly for his visits home. One of his duties recently was troubleshooting computer issues around the base. He laughed as he told us about being called to an office because a computer wouldn’t power up. He stood and surveyed the problem and found the answer fairly quickly. He asked his fellow Marine one question, “Did you plug it in?” The Marine looked down and then back up sheepishly. Everything works better when it’s connected to a power source.

As I thought about how silly that Marine must have felt for calling tech support for a computer that wasn’t plugged in, I thought about hearing Christians complain in frustration about problems in their lives and the look on their face when someone suggests prayer, Bible study, or church attendance as an answer. It’s as if those solutions are the farthest things from their mind. We so easily forget that He created us, He knew us before we were formed, He had us in mind when He created the plan of salvation. We are important to Him. Even as little as we are, imperfect in our efforts, and as much as we fail… He desires to be in a close relationship with us.

16  Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; And in thy book all my members were written, Which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. 17  How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them! Psalm 139:16-17

So, how do we get ‘plugged in’ to God? The best way to get started is to unplug from everything else. Turn off the tv, turn off the radio, spend some time in quiet with God. In His Word, in prayer, in church attendance and sitting under the word of our Lord. It’s in those moments, when we truly open ourselves to Him, that He will speak to our hearts through the Holy Spirit and show us what He wants from us in our lives.

Imagine having a device literally inches away from power and being unable to use it: not because you don’t have access to the power, but because you haven’t made the simple motion of plugging into that endless supply of power. As Christians, we so often forget that God wants to be involved in every single aspect of our lives. We relegate Him to the spiritual world, but He is interested in every part of our lives, we just have to let him in. I was speaking with someone tonight, and I commented about feeling like I am a walking testimony for what God can do in the life of a lukewarm Christian: I’ve been in church all my life. I’m sure I went to church for the 9 months before I was born. I got saved in 1985 and I will never doubt that moment and what He did for me in that instant, but I didn’t figure out how to really plug in to Him until I was in my late 40’s. Oh, I had some times when I walked closely with Him for a while, but life always seemed to get in the way, and I would slide back into a lazy place. I suppose He finally got tired of my waffling, and gave me an ultimatum. I didn’t hear audible words, but just as when He saved my soul, the Holy Spirit made it abundantly clear to me that I was going to serve Him… or else. I wrestled with what exactly that entailed for several weeks… finally I stood in my garden and offered myself up as a servant to Him, not just doing the things I like: singing, playing piano, or teaching kids, but whatever He wanted from me, whenever He wanted it. The smallest things, to the biggest things… all of it. And, friends… He asks things of me sometimes, and I still struggle to obey, because I know that I’m not worthy of even calling Him Lord, but in my obedience, I have received more blessings, and more joyous meetings with my Lord than anyone deserves. He has already given me more than I can ever repay… but what a joy it is to live a life that seeks to please Him with every heartbeat.

I’m not a good Christian, I make mistakes, but He is a good God! He is worthy of every second of every minute of every day of our lives. If your Christian walk is feeling a little cool… make sure you’re plugged in! The bill has been paid! Christ has bought us all the power and energy we could ever need, and the Holy Spirit is available 24/7! Plug in to every thing He has given us! Study! Worship! Learn! Pray! The energy we have available to is never-ending and the rate never changes… it’s free for the taking and unlimited in its supply. Plug in and power up, beloved!