So much has been said, advertised, or recommended about regular oil changes
that Americans have come to believe that is all you have to do to keep your car
running perfectly. Just every 3000 miles change the oil and all is well we are
led to believe, but nothing could be further from the truth. True, cars being
self tuning via the computer make plugs last over 100,000 miles, and with no
points and plugs, remember them old timers, there just aren’t any parts to
replace other than filters. Which do get dirty. But oil changes too have
changed, as the intervals on cars using synthetic oil are now almost 10,000
miles, my wife’s Mustang telling you how much oil life is left, which translates
to almost 10,000 miles based on driving habits, and even my 2017 Triumph
Bonneville has oil changes every 10,000 miles, with a wrench to come up and
remind you. Just twist the throttle and ride just like always but without oil
change, spill it on the garage floor, and drop the drain plug in the drain pan
fun. And you really want me to still do it every 3000?
But with less frequent oil changes, we don’t spend as much time with
maintenance, where we used to get to know our machines intimately. Progress
does have its down side. But as long as engines need lubrication, they will
need oil changes, if for no other reason than to get our hands dirty. Think of
the time spent doing maintenance on your car or bike, and you got to know it and
about it more. Where the leak was and did it matter, checking the fluids before
a light came on telling you it was too late, and keeping under the hood looking
fresh. Time well spent.....
Like maintenance, we get thirsty after working or playing, and need a drink
of water. Today with sodas, energy drinks, and fortified water, no matter how
we indulge, we get thirsty again. Coca Cola used to advertise they were “the
pause that refreshes,” and nothing beat an ice cold Coke on a hot day, followed
up with cold water to quench your thirst. And we would get thirsty again, and
repeat the process until we die. Thirst will do that to you. In the book of
John, Jesus encounters a woman at the well, and confronts her on her past. He
knows all about her sins, yet doesn’t accuse her. He himself was breaking with
rabbinical tradition even talking to her, as rabbis were not to talk to women in
public, even a wife or sister. And here right in front of anyone and everyone,
they converse. He tells her about how the well she drinks from will only quench
her thirst for awhile, and offers her a drink from the well that will eternally
satisfy. And there the religious teaching stops, drink once and you thirst no
more, and off to the next study. They confuse one drink with the faucet to life
Jesus offered her, a pipeline to the holy spirit, where she will thirst for more
of Jesus, and only in the spirit will that thirst be quenched. We are taught
that just one drink will end the thirst for Christ, my experience and one of
true believers is, one drink of Jesus and his love and I want more. Keep my
glass filling to overflowing, yet we are taught different and suffer. As if one
meal will eternally fill you, we continuously need to drink from the spirit, to
feed on the word, and keep in continual meditation and prayer with God. No
quick fixes, it is like changing the oil, we will get dirty again, and need to
be cleansed. In this world we will get dirty, and Jesus knew this and offered
the solution. We don’t need a glass, we need a continual Big Gulp of the spirit
to keep us going. We have direct access to the well piped into us by the holy
spirit, from which we can continually drink, no matter how thirsty we are! That
is the pause that eternally refreshes, over and over.
That water is everlasting life, and although being born again is a one time
event, we need to work out our salvation daily, like working out in the gym.
And what happens after a workout, we’re thirsty. The workouts coming in the
form of tests, trials, and temptations. And we have access all the time to this
invigorating, refreshing, and exciting source. No one time drink, but to be
quenched eternally! I’ll drink to that! And the quality of life that is
enhanced by drinking of the spirit. No one time drink will ever satisfy, it may
save, but we will thirst for more. And that source is the spirit. That is what
Jesus let the woman know, she would be tested daily, but now had a source to
turn to for quenching and refreshment. She had been offered a life with
qualities unknown before, that would give her love, joy, and peace. Fruit of
the spirit. A well springing up of life, continually refreshing. Who needs a
well if you only need to drink from it once? Makes me thirsty, does it
you?
Once is not enough when you meet Jesus. Your oil will get dirty and only
he can cleanse it. His diagnostics go way beyond a check engine light, or a low
oil light. You can either check your dipstick or be a dipstick. No oil on it,
fill it up. If OK, be thankful and keep an eye on it. Or you can be like a girl
who was a friend in high school, “Daddy I don’t understand why you are so upset,
I only drove with the oil light on for 20 miles.” Cars get thirsty too...now do
you get it? Give me oil for my engine, for my lamps, and the holy spirit for my
life. Available in to go cups to. For some just another day at the well...you
never know who you will meet do you?
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com