Meeting Jesus

One of the people that I have really appreciated lately is my assistant. Amanda Miles is working as an intern for New City as she finishes up her degree at Georgia College. She is one of those people that I can give a list of things to do while I’m gone and know that they will get done. So I feel very comfortable leaving for two weeks because Amanda is on the ball. During her interview I asked her about her personal relationship with the Lord – specifically, how did she nurture her relationship with Christ. This was her reply, in my own words, that I really appreciated.

A godly man once explained it like this. You can either be a gas tank Christian or an oxygen tank Christian. A gas tank Christian pulls into the station early in the morning and fills up their tank. They then drive for the rest of the day because they filled up early in the morning. The bulk of their ‘spiritual fuel’ happens in an hour, early in the morning, and that is their focus. I think a much better way to sustain an intimate Christian walk is to be an oxygen tank Christian. An oxygen tank Christian is connected to the tank of oxygen throughout the day and cannot live without it. There is not one moment of ‘filling up’ but a continual process of tapping into God.

While I’ve never heard this illustration before I greatly appreciated it. I’m not a morning person, so I’ve often struggled with ‘beating my body into submission’ to appear more godly. Matter of fact, I love staying up until 1 or 2 in the morning – I operate at my best there and I don’t brow beat anyone who doesn’t share my love of the evenings.

As I have matured in my faith I have come to realize that there is little godliness in a legalistic approach to meeting Jesus. Don’t get me wrong, many people love rising early to spend time with the Lord and there is nothing legalistic about it. But to require it of another or to hold it up as a goal or the standard for a person to eventually reach as they mature in Christ is an exercise in legalism that will not only discourage a person who may not share your early morning love, but will pass on your legalistic approach to grace and love.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 17th, 2009 at 12:31 pm and is filed under Gospel, Musings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.