Ok……..so, I’m driving not thinking about anything in particular and these similes come to mind. I believe God is showing me some things through these and I thought I would share with you tech savvy chaps!
The thought occurred to me that most people don’t realize that they aren’t getting the most out of their laptops and cell phones in terms of battery life as a result of the fact that most people don’t read the documentation/manuals thoroughly or at all. Here’s the deal: after fully charging a rechargeable battery (yes even Lithium Ion) for the first time, one should charge and discharge it fully at least twice and three times to be sure of maximum battery life. If not done, most batteries will only charge to 80% of it’s maximum capacity. It’s ability to fulfill its purpose is diminished!! This for me appears to be like a lot of us Christians. Many don’t read the documentation/manual/BIBLE thoroughly or at all and as a result do not operate to the max capacity that God intends for us. The bible says that if we are lukewarm He will spit us out of His mouth. Paul tells us that we should live our lives like and athlete preparing for a competition. As we know, the only way an athlete can win is if he is operating as near his or her max capacity as possible. We are much like that rechargeable battery. If we don’t read the manual, we won’t know how to operate according to the manual. If we don’t operate according to the manual our effectiveness will be diminished. I know that some people and sometimes I’m just happy thinking that I’ll be happy just to make it to heaven, but that’s not the purpose we were created for. JUST MAKING it into heaven is like that battery operating at only 80% of its capacity. JUST MAKING it into heaven is like using salt that’s lost much of its flavor. We wouldn’t cook with salt that has very little flavor because that defeats the purpose of using it (of course I’m referring to the Salt of the earth scriptures) and how do we think God feels when the salt he has sprinkled onto the earth (us), is bland or even flavorless. So, the exhortation here…….let’s read the manual, thoroughly. Operate (live) according to it’s parameters and thus as close to our max capacity (in HIM), even though in our sufferings and growth it doesn’t at times feel like we are operating at our max capacity.
So that was the battery analogy……..stay with me for one more or come back tomorrow and read this as part two of this post(hehe)
So, the second simile was regarding computers. I remember when my wife and I first got the computer. I used it a lot, though not as much as I do now. It didn’t have the degree of relevance in my life as it has today, which I will explain in a moment. My usage of it then was for pretty mundane, unproductive ends. This seems to be like marriage. Many people first get married not knowing what the purpose of marriage really is. They live in their marriages in a pretty mundane, unproductive and many times destructive way (*raising hand* guilty as charged), like getting married to fulfill self-centered means……we want someone to MAKE us happy, etc. It is through years of mistakes (destructive) and taking for granted (mundane, unproductive) my relationship to my wife that I’m now seeing and living to the best of my current understanding what appears to be some of the purpose in marriage.
Purpose one would be a modeling of the God to man/woman relationship lived out in the way a husband loves his wife and in the way a wife loves her husband. It occurred to me recently that if the father wound can damage us as we attempt to have relationship with God, then what wounds do the broken marriages leave? It can damage us in the most important areas, trust and love. “My dad wasn’t there, so I don’t trust God to be” or “I wasn’t loveable by my father, so how could God love me”. Well if that affects our relationship with God, then one of the purposes of a marriage must be the model of relationship that a husband and wife provide for their children and non-Christians. “After all, if God isn’t powerful enough to help Christians have strong or intact marriages, then why should I serve HIM?” I think this is what many In the non-Christian community might say. I also think this is what many of our children may be feeling as they grow up in what is becoming a “culture of divorce and extreme dysfunction.” They look at us, mommy and daddy and think, “why should I serve a God who wasn’t powerful enough in the lives of my parents to help them work it out (thank God for HIS grace and redemptive power in their lives…..and ours!!!)?” On the other hand, what lessons does a REAL Christ centered marriage teach our children? A marriage that has it’s issues, but Christ is it’s Lord and the issues are actively worked out to the best of the couples abilities to work them out and also to the best of their abilities to submit theirs and their spouses personal flaws to God. This purpose really struck me as my daughter came home from school the other day and talked about how all her friends parents are either separated, divorced or are dealing with step-parent issues and deciding which parent to live with. On a personal note, the latter really struck me because imagine being 9 or 10 years old and not having to decide which video game to play, or TV show to watch, or which friend to call on the phone……..but having to decide, “of these two people that I love so much that they can do no wrong, which one do I choose?” The thought of that still weighs heavily on my heart because I had to do it around 16, 17 years old and I still remember it like it was yesterday (although without all the tears and heartache).
Purpose two would be, teaching me to love according to His definition as it is laid out in Corinthians. I would say also teaching me to “love my wife like Christ loves the church” but I think that if marriage teaches me to just LOVE like it says in Corinthians than the other will fall in line. It is through the mistakes and failures I have experienced and do experience that I learn to love my wife without strings attached. We are not promised tomorrow, nor are we promised that our marriages will be, “till death do us apart.” Neither are we promised that we will always be loved back with the same amount of love we give, or that we will love as passionately as we are loved. It is with these realizations that I am learning to love as passionately as I am able. It is when we learn to love not seeking any love in return that we are truly free to love with all our hearts! This is love with no agenda. This is supposed to be the way we are to love God. This is supposed to be the way we are to love one another, both spouse, friend and neighbor alike! Many of us don’t know how to love this way because that’s not what we see at home or are taught by those that influence our lives, but I believe that if you come to a point where you are truly seeking to love your spouse as God directs, He will show you how to love this way. It might be hard and painful, because you might have to love someone who appears to not love you back (which without the reward-being love back- for your action-giving the love- will really test your heart and motives!!!). You might have to give to someone who might not or doesn’t give back. Heck, like Dr. King did, you might even have to love someone who spits in your face or hates you!
