Batteries included …

So many of the gifts parents buy for their children at Christmastime, for birthdays or other events, require batteries as a source of power. That need for a power source has prompted manufacturers to print on packaging whether or not batteries are included with the purchase. If not, parents would need to purchase batteries separately and load them into what they had purchased so when their child receives their present they won’t be disappointed with a powerless gift.

We human beings like the idea of having power.

One national bank has tried to use that fact in their advertising with a catch line of, “What would you like the power to do?” hinting at the idea that banking with them would enhance their financial power.

Just spend a little time on social media and you’ll see mature adults post the question, “If you could have any superpower, which one would you pick?”

We seem to be enamored with the thought of gaining power, and one reason for that is actually practical: We need power for living.

Fortunately for us, when our heavenly Father reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 5:17-18), He made sure our new life came complete with a gift of power as well. The Apostle Paul assures us that being citizens of the kingdom of God and living as ambassadors for Jesus Christ isn’t a life of just talk, but a life fully powered for living:

“For the Kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk; it is living by God’s power,” 1 Corinthians 4:20.

So God included with His gift to us the power we need to live as children of God:

“By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence,” 2 Peter 1:3.

Before ascending back to His heavenly home with the Father, Jesus promised His followers the power they would need to carry on His mission:

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere — in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth,” Acts 1:8.

And it’s not just power for proclaiming the Good News of Jesus, but in living as disciples who follow in His steps:

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline,” 2 Timothy 1:7.

And now that we have been reconciled to God, that power is given to enable us to live for Him:

“For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him,” Philippians 2:13.

Paul even makes his “final word” in his letter to the Ephesian Christians an exhortation toward this power from and through God:

“A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power,” Ephesians 6:10.

Even though our new lives as disciples of Jesus have a supply of power, so many Christians live as if they’re out of gas. Kind of like the story about how, on one New Year’s Day, in the Tournament of Roses parade a beautiful float suddenly sputtered and quit. It was out of gas. The whole parade was held up until someone could get a can of gas. The amusing thing was this float represented the Standard Oil Company. With its vast oil resources, its truck was out of gas. Even though Christians have access to God’s omnipotence and His gift of power, if we do not avail ourselves to it we will be like a truck that has run out of gas.

What are you doing with the power God is supplying you to do what pleases Him?

Scotty