Daily Devotions

May 15, 2008

HIGH OCTANE

Philippians 2:16–18

I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith. (Phil. 2:17)

Used up. Poured out. Burned off. Like a tank full of gasoline. The engine roars to life and the car races from point A to point C, hangs a left at Q, and heads for D. That evening it does the same thing in reverse order. Out and back again. It ends where it began, back in the driveway at home. But in the process, gas is spent and the moving parts within the engine are worn just a little bit more than they were this morning. It is a little change, but with time the little changes add up. Rust begins to form and eat away at the body. Constant strain eventually proves too much, and pieces break. That empty tank must be refilled again and again. Until one day the car cannot go another mile. With a sputter and a shake, the engine dies. It has been used up.

God has given us each the ability to decide how we get used up. Paul was poured out over the young church outside of the Jewish community. His strength and energy were given day in and day out to mentoring the believers throughout the Mediterranean region, and when he was finally spent, God had used him to change the world in ways that still touch us two thousand years later.

—Brian Wallace

What are you choosing to be poured out into?

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