God’s Word Isn’t Your Gas Station
Chaos filled my home. My two older children battled over toy animals while my toddler scaled anything in his path. After dealing with one tantrum, I came back out to the living room to discover my dog had gotten sick, leaving another mess to clean up. I could feel anger begin to take over.
“But I read my Bible this morning!” my head screamed.
In those moments the sweet fellowship of the Word didn’t seem to matter, and, if I’m honest, I felt cheated. Wasn’t I supposed to handle this better?
Of course, God’s Word hadn’t returned void, but my false expectations left me defeated. I treated God’s Word as though it were the extra boost of caffeine I needed to fuel my mornings. I subconsciously expected it to grant me superpowers to calmly combat whatever came at me that day.
Unfortunately this is a reality we all can be tempted to believe. Internet memes and inspirational quotes tell us to “fill our cup” or “start our day right” with Jesus as though he were little more than a 12-ounce cup of coffee. While there are many wonderful reasons to start our day in the Word with Christ, we must be careful to speak and think correctly about what this actually means and what it doesn’t.
You’re Not Fueling Up with Gas
We can’t approach our time with the Lord as a glorified gas station. We don’t grab our Bibles to top off our attitude so we can cruise the next 300 miles on our own. In fact, God’s Word is quite clear in reminding us we are unable to grow in holiness in our own power.
“We don’t grab our Bibles to top off our attitude so we can cruise the next 300 miles on our own. ”
We see this throughout the narrative of the Old Testament. Once out of Egypt, the Israelites pleaded with Moses to speak to God, promising to hear and do what he commanded (Deut. 5:27). Weeks later, the same group formed a golden calf to worship at the foot of the mountain.
Later, as they were finally ready to enter the Promised Land, Joshua uttered the famous appeal to “choose this day whom you will serve” (Josh. 24:15). Eagerly the people announced their commitment to Yahweh, but Joshua rebuked them, saying, “You are not able to serve the LORD, for he is a holy God” (Josh. 24:17–19). The troubled generations of rebellion in the Promised Land show us he was correct.
From the Ten Commandments, to the visceral images of the temple sacrifices, to the failures of the greatest king after God’s own heart, we see again and again that it’s impossible for us to take the Word of God as merely an aid to our own sanctification. The Bible tells us we don’t need a pain reliever but a lifeline helicopter carrying our whole body to healing. Or, as Jeremiah and Ezekiel said, we need a whole new heart (Jer. 31:31–34; Ezek. 36:24–28).
Christ came to give us just that. The promise of a new covenant has been fulfilled in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Yet, though we see the reality of our justification, we must still be careful not to diminish God’s current work of sanctification. Our time in God’s Word and prayer isn’t a catalyst that supercharges us to work out our own salvation; it’s the instigator of a dependence we must live out in every moment of our day.
You Are a Branch
Instead of a car fueling up and then entirely disconnecting itself from the pump, Scripture tells us a different story. We are branches (John 15). A branch may grow and reach far out from the vine, but it never leaves its source. Once it’s disconnected, it dies. The nourishment of the stalk to the branch isn’t a onetime meal but a constant source of life—fueling, feeding, and giving sustenance continually. This is our reality with Christ.
God isn’t only the initiator of our sanctification but the enabler as well. His Spirit convicts us in our study of the Bible, and it’s his Spirit we must continue to depend upon when we close its pages. This is why the Westminster Larger Catechism says that even our sanctification manifests “in union with him” (Westminster Larger Catechism, question 69).
God calls us to live continually in total need of him. He carries us throughout our entire day. We can see this reality throughout New Testament teaching as well. Paul reminds us that though we are to work out our salvation, God is the one who gives us the will to work, and then further enables us to do that work for his good pleasure (Phil. 2:12–13).
To the Corinthians Paul said Christ supplies and multiplies the seed, and then he goes on to increase the harvest of righteousness (2 Cor. 9:8–10). In Galatians Paul exclaims he has been crucified with Christ, and that the life he now lives, he lives in Christ “by faith in the Son of God” (Gal. 2:19–21). Michael Allen comments on this passage by noting that Paul determines his actions and life not in his own reality but in the wider story of Christ (Sanctification, 232). Christ is involved in each step. As branches attached to the vine of Christ, we are unable to do good works without our Lord in the beginning, the middle, and the end.
In the Savior’s Arms
We would probably never define our relationship with God like a gas station, but how often do our actions or our thoughts lean this way? Maybe, like me, you find yourself shamed because the circumstances of your day exposed the sin you thought you were supposed to easily conquer. Perhaps you approach your devotional time subconsciously hoping it somehow makes the day easier. In some sense these sentiments hold truth. When we begin our day with the reminder of who we are in Christ, even our own failures become good opportunities to confess and remember we need the grace of God each day. Perhaps this is one reason David spoke of the satisfaction and joy he received from remembering the steadfast love of the Lord in the morning (Ps. 5:3; 90:14).
“The trials of our day remind us to draw life from Christ moment by moment.”
Yet when we end our Bible study at any time of the day, we must always attach ourselves to our life-giving vine. The trials of our day remind us to draw life from Christ moment by moment just as the scorching sun propels a branch to draw sustenance, moment by moment, from the vine. These moments teach, instruct, and mold our hearts, training us to depend ever more on our Savior. We face them not alone but with the Lord, who abides with us through each second of our day.
We shouldn’t expect our time in the Word to propel us forward like gasoline, but we can be sure that the Lord is working through us continually. Christ will change us (1 Thess. 5:24). As we study his Word, hear it preached, and belong in meaningful ways to the body of Christ, he will sanctify us as he works in us and through us.
Devotions are wonderful, but once you’ve completed them, don’t leave yourself in any other place than your Savior’s arms. Self-determination has no place in his kingdom. Gas will only get us so far, but when we grasp on to the vine that sustains us, we’ll find nourishment that lasts.
Brianna Lambert is a wife and mom to three, making their home in the cornfields of Indiana. She loves using writing to work out the truths God is teaching her each day. She is a staff writer with GCD and has contributed to various online publications, such as Christianity Today and The Gospel Coalition. You can find more of her writing paired with her husband’s photography at lookingtotheharvest.com.