The story has been told about a do-it-yourselfer who went into a hardware store early one morning and asked for a saw. The salesman took a chainsaw from the shelf and commented that it was their newest model with the latest technology and guaranteed to cut 10 cords of wood in a single day. The customer was so delighted with the idea that it could cut so much wood in a single day that he bought it on the spot.
The next day the customer returned, looking somewhat exhausted, and said, “Something must be wrong with this saw. I worked as hard as I could and only managed to cut three cords of wood. I used to do four with my old-fashioned saw.”
Looking confused, the salesman said, “Here, let me try it out back on some wood we keep here.”
They went to the woodpile, the salesman pulled the cord, and as the motor went vvvrooommm, the customer leaped back and exclaimed, “What’s that noise?”
The customer who tried to cut wood without the power of the saw to help him is very much like the Christ-follower who attempts to live the Christian life without the daily empowerment of God’s Spirit. It’s clear to us how much better a powered chainsaw is over trying to do it by hand.
To do it by hand is to expect all the power to come from us. To employ the power of the chainsaw is to rely on the power of the saw to carry the heavy burden of cutting wood. Just as the woodcutter who doesn’t utilize the power of the saw finds himself exhausted by the experience, so the Christ-follower who doesn’t plug into the power source of God’s Spirit soon discovers that it’s just too hard.
The Christian life is not intended to be a do-it-yourself venture. When a person steps into a relationship with Christ, he/she is then indwelled by the Spirit of God. This is what it means to be spiritually born again. It’s the indwelling power of the Spirit that we are to tap into for our power source to live life. To ignore that is as foolish as the woodsman who neglects the power of the saw.
Jesus said, “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.”
Just as a branch is dependent upon the vine for life, we, too, are dependent upon the spiritual power that comes from our relationship with Christ. It is the work of the Spirit that serves as a conduit of Christ’s love toward us and offers the power to live the Christian life.
Don’t be a do-it-yourselfer. Tap into the power of God by staying connected to Christ and letting the Spirit of God become your source for life. The difference will be as obvious as vvvroommm!
Learn more at www.newlifeonline.com or follow Steve Lingenfelter on Twitter, @stevOLL.
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