When I was a child, we called gas stations, filling
stations for the simple reason that it was where you took your car to be filled
with Gas. My parents would park in front
of the pumps and wait for service. An attendant (O how I miss them)
would come to the window and my mother or father would tell them to
"fill'er up". He or she would specify the type of gas wanted. In those days, it was either high test or
regular. We would sit in the car, as it was being filled with gas. Using my imagination, I can easily believe
that the car was excited to be replenished with fuel.
As believers, we should regularly pull into God's
filling station and be refilled. Like
cars we can run half full, with a quarter tank or near empty. A car burns more gas if it is not well
maintained, has bad parts, sits idling or is driven aggressively. Even in the pursuit of comfort (aka using
your air conditioner) will hasten your trip back to the "filling
station."
Our bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit. In
our daily walk in the earth, we are God's light in the midst of darkness. If
we are led by the Spirit, we are pouring out God's love, grace, forgiveness and
truth daily. We live in a fallen world. If we are not living in the fullness of
the revelation of Christ, we will deplete fast.
We need to go to God on a regular basis requesting to be filled again.
God is a "filling God. At the creation
of mankind, He told us to fill the earth and subdue it (Genesis 1:28). After
Solomon built the temple, God filled it with His glory (2 Chronicles 7:1-2). After
Jesus ascended to be with the Father again, God sent His promised Spirit to
fill us and dwell within us. As a matter of fact, on the day of
Pentecost, the disciples who were gathered in the upper room were
"filled" with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4). We are
admonished by Paul the apostle to be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18).
We are filled and refilled in worship, in the Word of
God, in the fellowship of the saints, in prayer and in ways the Spirit
lead. We must keep a full tank as we
make every effort to make God known to a
lost and dying world. The more we empty out doing the work of the
ministry as believers, we must run back to the Lord and cry out "fill'er
up!
29Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants
that with all boldness they may speak Your word, 30by
stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done
through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.” 31And when they
had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they
were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with
boldness. Acts 4:29-31(NKJV)
