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Filled to the Top

This past Saturday, a buddy of mine and I went on a motorcycle ride to New Town, North Dakota, over to Williston and back home again. In all, we put over 500 kilometers on our bikes.

Since running out of fuel in the middle of nowhere would not be any fun and because we were not quite sure how far it was between gas stations, we filled up every chance we got. As well, because my motorcycle is older and has a fairly small tank, I not only filled up, but I literally filled it to the top every single time. When I was done, you could not have squeezed in one more drop. I wanted all the fuel I could get because it was important to have enough.

Sunday morning after we got back, I was teaching from Ephesians chapter three. In that passage, Paul prays that his readers may be “filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (verse 19). In light of my previous day’s experience, that verse meant a lot.

I wonder how many times we try to live our lives on “half a tank”. Instead of being filled right to the top with God and his goodness, we somehow think that we can get by with just “a little bit” of God. It is no wonder that some of us “run out of gas” spiritually before we reach the end.

One of the people in the class then pointed out that the little tank on my motorcycle could never hold all the gas that was in the underground tank at the gas station. In other words, the supply of fuel by far outweighed my bike’s capacity to receive it.

That is also true in spiritual things. The limitation on our spiritual blessings comes not from God’s side, but from ours. It is our capacity and our willingness to accept God’s blessings that determines how much we actually receive. From God’s side, the supply is endless.

In fact, the next verse closes the prayer with these words: “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen (verses 20-21).

God’s power is unlimited. He can do “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine”.

So, what would be different if your Spiritual tank was full? What would happen if you let God in and allowed him to work?

There is only one way to find out.

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