Jimmy Johnson and Greg Biffle both had the misfortune of running out of gas at the end of the NASCAR race this past Sunday. Both racers had performed well during much of the day, but could not finish since they didn’t have enough fuel. Has this ever sounded like your day or week? Things started off well, but you didn’t have energy to finish what was required of the day...fortunately we are given several examples of where to go to have the perseverance to finish our race like Paul the apostle (2nd Timothy 4:7).
Christ tells us in John 15:4 that “...No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” In John 15:5 he makes this even more explicit stating that “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”
What is the great thing about God being our fuel? Jesus told the woman at the well “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:13-15). We know it is silly to try to run a car without fuel...then why do we try to live our lives apart from the true vine that supplies the living water we so desperately need.
