What’s fueling you?
What’s Fueling you?
Heading to work last week, the low fuel alarm sounds on the car, “time to fill up with fuel Vetti”, I muse to myself, “Nick will be stoked with the car full of fuel”.
Acquiring me some ‘good wifey’ brownie points, I rock up to the garage, and reach for the fuel bowser. It suddenly dawned though, after pumping 23 Litres into a thirsty car, that I’d put the wrong fuel in! It should have been diesel, not unleaded! Hands engulfing my head and groans of distress could be heard by fellow travellers as I watched that ‘good wife’ trophy slip out of my grasp to shatter on the footpath of pride.
Cars won’t run on the right fuel, it wrecks the engine. Our bodies can be the same, just ask Stacey Irvine, who ate nothing but chicken nuggets for 15 years. She was 17 when rushed to hospital after collapsing at work, depleted in vitamins, she even needed to be injected with them. Doctors said Stacey would die unless she changed her diet.
So if physically adding the wrong stuff to our bodies is damaging, this leads me to ponder; what if we put harmful stuff into our minds? It’s not a big stretch to imagine the more we fill up on impure thoughts, the more polluted we become. Proverbs 26 says it like this, “Gossip is so tasty! How we love to swallow it!” It may be good going down, but it’s not healthy for us, and can lead to dire consequences.
When I find myself thinking wrong thoughts, I try to think,
“…whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things”. Philippians 4
Certainly this helps, and it’s also beneficial to “walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm”. Proverbs 13
Hanging around good people may convict us of our behaviour sometimes, but that’s a good thing! So this week, if you find yourself in the company of a righteous person speaking up for holiness, then give them some encouragement, heaven knows they’ll need it.
And if you’re the person feeling convicted, don’t be defeated, use that emotional energy to do better next time! God’s a God of second chances, and third, and fourth. Never give up trying to please Him, because He died saving your life.
Oh, and the car? Courtesy of NRMA it got towed to be drained and cleaned, 3 days later and after paying only $900 (she gags at her stupidity) -thankfully Nick is a patient and loving husband.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
