Sometimes it’s really important to go back and review previous lessons. This morning I was actually looking at some notes I had made in the back of my Bible. There I read “a thermostat is no good without the proper connection”.
I’d like to tell you a story I heard once about a mountain man who came to the city. He only came about once a year, didn’t have much need for big city people and their sophisticated ways. He went to the hardware store, the lumber yard, the grocer and stocked up on the supplies he couldn’t get in the mountains and was on his way home. Only one more night in the city noise and then he would be back in the hills to his quiet life and all that he found comfortable.
Before leaving, he passed a small church and he was drawn in by the singing. It was a warm Spring day and the church was full. He noticed that each time it started to get hot in the small building one of the ushers would go over and turn the dial on the wall and cool air would begin to flow. He was amazed. This happened several times during the service. When the pastor said the final AMEN the mountain man approached the usher and asked him what that was on the wall. The usher was a bit startled by the question and simply stated it was a thermostat.
He told the man that when the building got too warm he could turn it down and cool air would come out but it also worked when the air got too cold, he could turn the thermostat up and the air would get warmer. The next question out of the mountain man’s mouth was “where do you get such a thing” to which the usher replied “at the hardware store”.
I know you see where this is going, right? Well, the mountain man headed back to the hardware store before he left town and purchased a thermostat. As soon as he got home, he nailed it to the wall of his cabin. On the first really warm day the man went to the wall and turned the dial down. Nothing happened. He couldn’t understand why. It was exactly like the one in the little church.
He fussed with it time and again but nothing ever happened. It never got cooler and it certainly never made the air warmer. The mountain man took the thermostat off the wall and put it back in the box. On his next trip to town he returned to the hardware store and told the man behind the counter that this, the thermostat, was broken. It didn’t work – it never had!
Then came the all important question. “Did you have it connected properly to air conditioning unit?”
What?!
Aren’t we just like that mountain man sometimes? We expect things to work out one way or another and are disappointed when things fail but we aren’t connected properly.
Jesus gave his disciples this instruction:
“I am the vine, and you are the branches. If you stay joined to me, and I stay joined to you, then you will produce lots of fruit. But you cannot do anything without me. 6 If you don’t stay joined to me, you will be thrown away. You will be like dry branches that are gathered up and burned in a fire.
7 Stay joined to me and let my teachings become part of you. Then you can pray for whatever you want, and your prayer will be answered. 8 When you become fruitful disciples of mine, my Father will be honored. 9 I have loved you, just as my Father has loved me. So remain faithful to my love for you.” John 15:5-9 CEV
Stay joined – stay connected. Without Christ we can do nothing. It’s not our power or might that brings about the right results, it’s God’s Spirit working with us, through us and for us that makes the difference.
If we want to see results, our thermostat must be connected to the power source.
“He gave the right and the power to become children of God to those who received Him. He gave this to those who put their trust in His name.” John 1:12 NLV