So, how do you decide when to put gas in your car? Do you wait until you’ve got some money, then put in ten bucks worth of gas until you can put in another $10? Do you wait until you’re near a “cheaper” station and get gas there (with little regard for the exact amount already in your tank)? Do you start paying attention when your gauge gets below half-a-tank? Or, is it when it hits a quarter-of-a-tank? Or, do you wait until the light goes on next to the gauge indicating low fuel? Do you watch your “miles until empty” display and take it all the way to zero? Do you let the needle get below the “E” and just run on fumes for a while? Or, do you let it get nearly empty and then get your spouse to drive it so that he/she can fill it up?
Then, when you get gas, what do you do at the pump? Do you pull all the way to the last open pump or do you stop at the first empty one? Do you pay with cash inside or credit outside? Do you select 87, 89 or 93 octane? Do you use the auto-lock on the handle or do you hold it with your hand the whole time? Do you top it off or stop filling when the pump kicks off? Do you try to drain any remaining fuel that’s in the hose into your tank or do you just put the handle back?
We all have our various habits and methods for getting gas and most of us would suggest that our way of doing it makes the most sense.
Here’s the point to this article: how do you decide when to fill up your faith and what do you do to fill it up? “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom. 10:17). Do you wait until you have a “convenient time” and then drop in to get some faith? Do you start paying attention when you’re feeling about half-way between the world and the Lord? Or, do you wait until your faith is down to a “quarter-of-a-tank”? Do you let your faith needle get below “E” and then try to run on faith fumes for a while? If you don’t have a regularly scheduled time to fill up your faith from the Word of God, then you do not have this as a priority! You might think your way is the best way and makes the most sense, but if it’s not building and sustaining your faith, it’s failing!
When you do fill up your faith, what do you do? Do you try to get it really quick? Do you take whatever is easiest to get at the moment? Do you let someone else do the work for you or do you dig in yourself and “get your hands dirty”? Do you try to get every last drop that you can? Do you ever “top it off”? If you’re not persistently diligent in filling up your faith from the Word of God, then it’s not a priority for you! The quickest and easiest way to get it done is not a successful plan!