Loose Wiring

            “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.
And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
                                                                 (Galatians 2:20)

This past month the air conditioning unit in the parsonage stopped working. After a few warm days, we placed a service call for someone to come out and fix the problem. At one point, the technician said, “I pulled off the electrical face-plate and have narrowed down the problem. The issue is in the wiring. Looks like some of them have come loose.”

As I thought about what he said, it occurred to me this illustrates a spiritual problem for Christians. There are times when something is disconnected in our gospel wiring. If we pull off the face-plate of our Christianity and take a look around we would probably see some wires dangling. Loose wires are never safe. This goes for air conditioners and Christianity.

A major indicator of loose gospel wires is indifference or spiritual laziness. The main wire that needs to be connected and stay connected in our spiritual circuitry is what God has done for us in Christ.The season of Lent and Easter gives us a picture of how much God really loves us. How do we keep our spiritual wires secured year-round as Easter people?

In my own struggle for continued gospel connection, I have found myself making significant strides when I regularly engage in spiritual disciplines. Methodist founder, John Wesley, said spiritual disciplines are “means of grace” that enable us to keep our relationship with God in good working order, as they help us grow in our Christian faith. Wesley included six ordinances in his list:

    ~  The public worship of God
    ~  The ministry of the Word, either read or expounded
    ~  The Supper of the Lord
    ~  Family and private prayer
    ~  Searching the Scriptures
    ~  Fasting or abstinence1

The six disciplines listed by Wesley are by no means exhaustive. There are many other ways that we maintain our link with God. But these six are essential for ALL believers. I pray you would make them a part of your spiritual maintenance.

Prayer: Risen Lord, as we seek to live out our lives as your Easter people, strengthen our commitment to you and to the spiritual disciplines we will need to practice in order to stay strongly wired to you. Amen.

In His Word,
Reverend Dee Dee

([1] The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church – 2008, “The General Rules”, ¶ 103, p. 74.)