Let me daydream with you. You need to hire a car. You walk into the office. The car you ask to hire is entirely up to you. What do you dream of driving? You walk onto the forecourt and are shown to your waiting car.
Now focus. Focus in on the moment you climb inside your newly hired ride; the seat squeaks, the carpet is clean, the smell is distinctive. You turn the key. First time. Brand new. You look down at the dash. No warning lights. The fuel tank is full. You’ve been given everything you need.
And so you drive. You won’t spend your time parked up, admiring the view. You will burn up that fuel. If necessary there will be foot-to-the-floor acceleration, extra trips, volunteering to run the errand, going the extra mile, there may even be donuts.
You will use up every bit of fuel that has been paid for. You will run it back on empty. It will be a tricky calculation to get right, but you will keep an eye on things, you will do your maths and you will be satisfied.
As a Christian, you are a hire car – this life we get is not the permanent deal, the ride we are driving round in will be returned, the price that was paid can be totally spent, this ride is not it, so don’t get too fussed over it, feel free to brush the mess off the seat, but don’t get too hung up on it, it’s going back! That’s what it’s for.
Your fuel is for using – the energy and passion and gifts and time God has given you is to be used up, in the way you do that, there is great liberty. Of course we would say that there is no better way to empty the tank, than on showing children the one who paid for them at a great price.
Do remember that when you check out of this temporary world and return your shell of a body, you don’t want stuff left in the tank. There will be the greatest sense of satisfaction in bringing it back empty, in hearing the words, “well done, good and faithful servant.”
In a world that seems obsessed with “me time”, slow food, mindfulness, and all sorts of other forms of thinly veneered self-obsession, I say, “burn it up you hire car!” and the apostle Paul says slightly more eloquently…
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” 2 Tim 4:7
I have burned up the fuel, I have returned the ride, for the unseen One. I trust Him far more than all I can see.
Guest Blog from Amy Smith, the Children’s Worker at GraceChurch, Halewood
