Articles
Weak Batteries
One of the trucks in my fleet is getting a new alternator today. For those who might not know exactly what that is, it's a device that generates electricity when being turned by the engine, and it replaces the electricity the battery is giving up to all the things that need battery power. In simple terms, it is the built in battery charger for the truck.
It took us a bit to know it was not functioning though. First, the truck was a bit sluggish when trying to start, but we thought maybe it was just cold. We ran it some, and everything worked, but the next time we started it, it barely started at all. We knew then that we had a problem, but didn't know exactly what it was. It could be a weak battery draining the other batteries down, an alternator problem or even something in the wiring.
Finally, we checked the batteries, which checked out to be fine. We got the truck started and put a voltage detector on the alternator, and it was not charging at all. So, today, we are getting a new one.
How many of us have a dead spiritual alternator letting our spiritual batteries slowly run down? How many of us have been slowly loosing our "spiritual want to" because we have stopped being charged up on a regular basis? We may still be going, but are we fully charged?
This COVID-19 pandemic has kept us out of church, away from the assembly, away from our brothers and sisters and it has let many of us gradually drain down, until some of us are having trouble getting started, or we have passed that point altogether. Our batteries themselves are fine, but what keeps them charged up isn't?
In most cases, everyone is going to work, the kids are in school, and we pass each other in the store aisles, but some are having difficulty getting started back to the assembly. We miss them. We want to see them and to fellowship with them and to worship God together with them again because we love them, and they are our family!
It's easy, like the batteries on my truck, to gradually loose our charge, so gradual that we don't really know anything is wrong, until we are too weak to perform, and the reason is, we lost what was keeping us charged up. In a spiritual sense, the church, the assembly, the family that we love that was keeping everyone charged up is no longer doing that, because that relationship hasn't been restored with everyone finding their way back after the pandemic. Some have tried to stay charged over the internet, but that doesn't work for long. Eventually, the charge fades away. We do understand that some people have specific health problems that cause them to need to stay isolated for a while longer. We totally understand, and we love you and will support you in any way we can. Let us help keep you charged up.
Today, know that we love you, we miss you, and we want to see you back. Our family isn't complete with you missing. God is Who gives us life, and He intended for His people to be together, where they can get charged up and stay charged up. He has us meet every week for a reason. He knew that we needed regular charging, and He designed His church to provide that at intervals that would effectively keep us charged. Yes, He is the source of everything we need alright, but He distributes that in different ways to us, and interacting with His family is one of the ways that is absolutely essential to our spiritual health and wellbeing.
We pray for this Covid thing to be brought under control soon. We pray that the vaccine will function as intended and result in a successful control of the virus so that we no longer have any fear of contracting it while being close to other people. May God bless us all moving forward, and may He keep us motivated to love and good deeds and to fellowship and the breaking of bread together and to prayer. Heb 10:24-25, Acts 2:42
