8/12/12-Devo- The Car of God: Is it time for Repairs?

Chester continued down the road. It was a nice country road, lots of cornfields, trees and the occasional cow, horse or even houses scattered here and there. He looked in his review mirror and saw a trail of something on the road. Chester panicked, but quickly pulled over. He wasn’t quite sure what was leaking out but, knew it wasn’t good. He pulled out his cell phone but then it stopped. He got back in his truck and continued on his way. But something still wasn’t right. He went to turn, and he then knew that the power steering was out. Not too big a deal. I can make it home. He thought. And then he noticed that the temp gauge was at a dangerous level forcing him to pull over again. Chester sighed, and then he reluctantly called a tow truck to come tow him to a repair shop.

I personally don’t know a lot about cars. I know that they are wonderful when they cooperate, and then they get to a point where their more trouble than it’s worth... This past year both our vehicles have been to the repair shop more times than I can count on my fingers and toes. (And I have all my fingers and toes by the way.) And only one was my fault... I won’t bore you with the details though. The majority of the others were things that weren’t our fault, but happened due to the age of the vehicle. Did I mention it’s falling apart too...? The bumper is being held on with a piece of wire, the gas tank door fell off, the driver’s seat isn’t comfortable to sit in because it’s stuck half way tilted back......and there’s probably a few more things I’m forgetting. Anyway, I’ve learned from numerous trips to the repair shop that when one thing goes wrong, even if it’s a small piece, it could lead to many other things going wrong too. Chester learned this the hard way.

As cars get older they encounter problems they didn’t have in their younger years, and often one problem can lead to another/cause dangerous driving conditions. In the same way, we face different things as we get older in life. And just like a car, as Christians we have parts that we must keep in like-new/good condition or they will begin to wear and tear due to the devil’s persistence. The “parts” I’m referring to are discussed in Ephesians 6:10-18 and portrayed in the diagrams below.
(In the dashboard pic, I honestly don’t know why I picked that one.... There’s so much stuff it’s confusing... I probably mismarked something, so pay more attention to the words than to the picture. )




Now there are countless stories in the Bible where someone’s “part” malfunctioned or fell apart and that led to other major problems. There’s Cain and Abel, Adam and Eve in the garden, Samson and Delilah, and David and Bathsheba and some others. The thing to remember is when we do break down, the repair shop (God) is always open for us to turn to, to be returned to proper running condition.
Jeremiah 15:19a says
Therefore this is what the LORD says: "If you repent, I will restore you that you may serve me;...

It’s important to keep an eye on the shape of the parts mentioned above, and when something seems wrong don’t ignore it like Chester. Chester was hesitant to get help at first because he wasn't convinced he needed it even though, it's never a good sign when something is leaking. Like Chester learned, it's much better to get it checked out right away and have the mechanic (God) help restore them to good condition.

Originally I wasn’t going to go into the armor of God. But that's the direction I ended up, probably due to a VBS I helped with a couple weeks ago. This is the first of a series, in the next few devos from me, I will be covering the different parts of the “Car of God” in further detail.

I think you did a great job Jason. I look foward to reading future devotions from you.

That was really good. Nice application to the car. You have a gift analogically that I could never achieve.

Thanks for the feedback guys, I'm glad you liked it.

Thanks so much Jason!