October 2004
A Moment
With Our Minister
“Keep Your Tank Full”
As I sat down to write this, I just noticed that it is already beginning to get dark outside and it is only 6:30 in the evening. It seems like just yesterday that we were sitting out at the football field, not so patiently waiting for 10 p.m. on the 3rd of July so that it would be dark enough for the fireworks to start. I guess that the realization has just hit home that summer is over and fall has begun.
Outside the trees are beginning to turn in greater numbers and the beans and corn in the fields that just yesterday seemed so green are now quickly becoming brown and dry. It seems that nature is winding down from the vitality of summer in preparation for the cold sleep of winter.
School is back in session (much to the dismay of some kids) and we are well into the football season. Sunday school is back in session and the buzz of activity is again apparent throughout the church. The pace has quickened as we prepare for Consecration Sunday, Charge Conference, the Advent season and all the other activities that those within our church family are hard at work on.
I know that my workload has increased and it is taking up more and more of my time as I work to prepare for worship, meetings, Sunday school, visitations and the various other appointments that pop up from time to time. It seems that sometimes I get so busy and focused on the process of what needs to get done, that I forget the purpose; I forget the “why” part of the equation. That realization is, for me, a show stopper. Not that all these things aren’t important, but I need to stop and take a moment to reassess my priorities. I need to refocus my attention on why and for whom I am doing those things. I need to seek God’s presence in my life and reconnect with the power of God’s Holy Spirit living within me; the fact of the matter is we all do.
It is only through the grace that we receive from God, that we can perform acts of goodness for others and receive the strength within ourselves to carry on. We need to keep our tanks filled. If we neglect spending time in the presence of God, we let our tanks run dry. If they become empty, just like our cars, we sputter to a stop and can go no further. But the good news is that there are some places where God has promised to meet us. John Wesley called these divinely appointed places the means of grace. According to Wesley, Christ himself instituted five such means of grace for us: Prayer, Searching the Scriptures, Attendance at the Lord Supper, Fasting and Christian Conference.
But as United Methodists, how faithful are we at regularly using these means of grace in our own lives to keep our tanks full? How often do we pray? Do we read and study the scriptures found in our Bibles daily? Do we seek to partake in the Lord Supper as often as we can? Are we a people who fast? Do we recognize the importance of and are we committed to meeting together regularly in small groups for our growth in God grace? Are we running with our tanks full? Or are we running close to empty, ready to sputter to a stop at any moment?
Take a moment to check your spiritual gas gauge. Our God has reached out to us in love; he sent his Son that we might have life abundant. God pours his grace upon us if we are willing to spend time in his presence. In God’s presence our tanks are filled and when our tanks are full, we can’t help but spread God’s love to others. For your spiritual health and the health of the church, make time to take time to spend in the presence of God everyday. Keep your tank full.
Peace and Blessings,The Rev. Rob Hughes
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