Batteries Not Included

So “the letter kills, but the spirit gives life.” If the letter is not, specifically, the Old Testament writings, then what is it? And how does it kill?

Since I have only my own experience to go on, that’s what I’ll give you. Paul said that he was alive until the law came, and then he died. What? I mean, this was a guy who said that the law was good. If it was good, why did it kill him?

Here I am, coasting along in life, being rude and impatient, and not bothered by it at all. Until the law comes. And the law says, “Love is not rude; love is not impatient.” (Yes, I know. It’s in the New Testament. Still, it’s the letter.) I realize my behavior is wrong, and I decide to fix it.

Great idea, except I can’t. I try to be kind. I try to be patient. I bottle my irritation inside of me, and put on the face of kindness. Have you ever done that? And even so, were unsuccessful? Does that feel a little bit like death to you? Sure feels like that to me!

I believe that the “letter” that kills comes in many forms. It comes in the form of the Bible. Books on child­training, books on the many forms of self­improvement, sermons and lectures and the multitudes of other ways we can hear, read, and see what it takes for us to have a good life. These are not bad things. In fact, they’re good. Paul never said the law was bad, he merely said it killed him. (But if you go a bit further in his writings, you’ll discover that death isn’t such a terrible thing, because after death comes resurrection. Not a bad deal, that.)

But why does it kill me? Why is it that reading and hearing and seeing how to have a wonderful life kills me?

Because batteries are not included.

Huh?

I can read, see, and hear how to have a good life. I can know how to. I can know so well that I can tell other people. And still, I can have a terrible life, because all I have is the framework. I have a shell, a machine. Without fuel. Without power. I know all this stuff, and still I’m helpless.

It takes the spirit to give life. And we cannot control God’s spirit. We cannot command it. I cannot read an article on a healthy diet, and “decide” that I will do that, and that God will empower me.

We cannot control this spirit that gives us life, but I’ve learned a little secret that has helped me a lot. The more quickly I realize that I cannot do “it,” whatever “it” may be, in my own strength, and the more quickly I ask the Lord for help, the more quickly I get it.

I can’t control the power, but I can stay plugged in to the source, ready to roll.

Thank you!

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