Running On Empty Or Full

Ephesians 5:18

Be not drunk with wine...but be filled with the Spirit.

We all know the importance of keeping our cars full of gas. The gas gauge indicates how full or empty our tank is. I like it when my Explorer is full, something about it makes me feel good. Each of us has the ability to sense emptiness or fullness in our lives.

We know where the fuel gauge is pointing in our lives. For many people, it points to the "E" side. For these people, who do not have a deep abiding, non-wavering faith in Christ, the emptiness within them is a deep void. This emptiness comes out in their lives as a hunger that cannot be filled. It often drives people to immorality, drinking, or drugs. It can eat away at their lives and make them seek the pleasure of sin. This emptiness leads to spiritual death and physical deterioration.

For those people whose souls have nearly died because they are somewhere in the middle, there are not only the normal pains and problems of life, there are also the added pains and problems caused by this terrible cancerous emptiness. This emptiness cannot be filled by things of this earth, or by the self-generated thoughts of man. This emptiness produces a hunger, which cannot be satisfied except by the love and in filling of the Holy Spirit. Some satisfaction can be found here and there, but with no lasting fulfillment. The highs and lows will be like a roller coaster ride that keeps them bouncing up and down without real stability and peace.

For the Christian who keeps his tank topped off, there will be fullness of joy, contentment and an unspeakable peace even in temptations and trials. He will have greater endurance because his faith is full. He will have greater power, greater peace, greater victory in warfare, and a greater anointing because he is filled up and in tune. He will go the distance and perform at his peak with his tank filled to the top.