Day 1: Plug in
Have you ever stopped to think about the amount of technology in your hand, or your pocket? Think about what your phone can do.
It can communicate across the world.
It can access virtually unlimited information.
It can take professional-quality pictures and video.
It can navigate you anywhere.
It can play music, stream movies, manage your finances, translate languages, and run thousands of applications.
And here's the crazy part: The phone in your pocket has more computing power than the technology NASA had available when they sent men to the moon!!
When used correctly, our phones can be powerful tools to get things done! As long as they have battery life! A phone can have incredible capabilities, but when the battery is dead, none of them matter. The camera doesn't work. The apps don't work. The internet doesn't work. The phone can't call anyone. It's not broken. It's just disconnected from its source of power.
Our spiritual lives operate in much the same way! Think about what God offers His children the power to do. If we were a product, here would be our listed selling points:
Communicate with God through prayer
Hear and follow the Holy Spirit’s guidance
Access God’s wisdom through His Word
Navigate life with God’s direction
Share the Gospel with others
Encourage and strengthen people
Bring hope into dark situations
Discern truth from deception
Exercise spiritual gifts
Pray for healing and breakthrough
Serve others with love
Forgive and restore relationships
Resist temptation and overcome sin
Live with supernatural courage
Be a light in a dark world
Help others connect with Jesus
Love beyond what comes naturally
Make an eternal impact
Be used as an instrument in God’s hands
That’s an amazing (not fully extensive) list of what we are capable of as believers! Well, as long as we have spiritual battery life! We have mighty potential for God, if we have been plugged into the source of power! But just like a phone that’s been drained of its batteries, believers can become so busy, distracted, and disconnected that our batteries get depleted.
When our phones are dead, they become expensive paperweights. Seemingly useless at the moment! We might as well throw them away, right?! No way! Those things are expensive! We find the nearest outlet and plug those bad boys in! In the same way, a believer who has found themselves depleted of the power of the Holy Spirit can feel the weight of not living up to our capabilities. It’s a depressing place when we feel like a spiritual paperweight. However, just like our dead phones, all we need is to get plugged into the power source, the King of kings and Lord of lords!
In the Bible, James is giving some believers a pretty good talking to, but in the middle of a nice tongue lashing, he gives us one of the most comforting tidbits of scripture:
James 4: 7 So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. 9 Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.
Even in a disciplinarian section of James’ letter, we are reminded that no matter how drained our spiritual batteries are, no matter how disconnected or distracted we have been, God is always looking for us to draw close, or plug back in, to Him!
That's where this 21-day journey begins. Not with a list of things you need to accomplish. Not with trying to become a better Christian overnight. Not even with what you're giving up during the fast. It begins by getting close to God.
For the next 21 days, we're going to intentionally disconnect from some things so that we can reconnect with the One who gives us life. Before God wants to use your gifts, He wants your heart. Before He wants to work through you, He wants to work in you. Before He sends you out, He calls you close. Today, plug in.
Today's prayer
Father, I come close to You today I confess that I have often tried to live in my own strength. I've tried to keep going when I was running empty. I've looked for satisfaction, strength, peace, and direction in things that were never designed to give them to me. Today, I return to the Source.
Forgive me for allowing distractions, busyness, habits, and even good things to take the place of my relationship with You. As I begin these 21 days, don't simply change what I do. Change me. Draw me closer.
Renew my hunger for Your Word.
Renew my desire to pray.
Renew my sensitivity to Your Spirit.
Renew my love for Jesus.
Help me not to treat this fast as something I accomplish, but as an opportunity to come closer to You. I want to be connected to You before I try to do anything for You.
In Jesus' name, amen.