Charging the Phone

How do you charge your phone? When I first bought mine, it automatically switched the charging off once it reached 80%. I would come back after half an hour and it was still on 80%!

Then I discovered that it was expecting me to plug it in overnight. By switching off at 80%, it thought it was saving the battery from damage. It planned to resume charging at 6am, to be ready at the time it thought I would get up.

However, that isn’t my way of charging. I don’t plug it in overnight. Instead, I just run it until it needs a charge, then I plug it in. If I really need it before it’s ready, I might use it while it is charging (someone will probably tell me that that’s bad).

Thankfully, once it had learned my habits, it switched to charging fully every time (thank goodness!).

I wonder whether we have similar differences in the way we like to feed on God’s Word? Reading the Bible is like charging our spiritual battery. It keeps us going for a day or two but not longer. We need a regular feed, just like a phone. Today’s verse compares us to newborn babies, who need to be fed very regularly.

Some of us have a regular habit - time with God every morning or evening - just like plugging in your phone at night. You get filled up whether you are desperately low or not. That’s the time you charge up. Others might prefer to fill up as they go along. But whatever our preference, let’s remember that we need to do it every day.

Are you feeling spiritually dry? Is it possible that it’s been a while since you charged your battery?

But what if you have tried that and it didn’t make you feel better? Well, before starting to read the Bible, do remember to pray and ask the Holy Spirit to teach and feed you from the Scriptures. That prayer is like switching on the power.

Otherwise, you may be like a person who connects their phone to a plug that is switched off! They wonder why nothing has improved after a period when it should have been charging. We need God’s personal power source (the Holy Spirit, who is freely given to us on request).

And sometimes it just takes a while to learn how to charge up properly from God’s Word. Like my new phone that had to learn not to stop too soon. But you will get there with the Holy Spirit’s help and with some perseverance.

So, I want to encourage you - whenever you plug your phone in - ask yourself “when was the last time I plugged into the Bible for a charge up?”