A CAPACITY FOR MORE

Imagine a very large dump truck, the kind that carries tons of payload, with a gas tank that only holds a gallon of gas.  Is something wrong with this picture?  The capacity of the truck to haul a load is meaningless if the capacity for fuel is so minuscule.  To do the job, it needs a greater capacity for fuel.  Christians may be bright, well educated and trained with great physical and intellectual capacity for serving others, but what if the capacity of their hearts to be filled with God’s love and Spirit remains minuscule, the size of a thimble?   

This is the case as Christians when our preparation to witness, and serve, and impact others for Christ remains a matter of the head only. We may learn strategies and tactics of evangelism, acquire skills in preaching and teaching the Word, and become accomplished in methods of discipling and counseling others, but to get the job done we lack the capacity of the heart to love.

The Apostle Paul said it well.  Without love our faith is nothing.  Our speech is like a clanging cymbal (1 Corinthians 13:1-3).  He also said “the only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.” (Galatians 5:6).  Jesus gave us his Great Commandment, “Love the Lord God with all your heart . . . and your neighbor as yourself.”  Paul goes on to pray that Christ may dwell in our hearts and strengthen us in our inner beingso that we be rooted and established in love, grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and know this love that surpasses knowledge.  In other words, to know the love of God not only intellectually, but also know with all our hearts.  He goes on to say why, “that you may be filled to the measure of the fullness of God.”  (Ephesians 3:16-19)

The great promise we have in Christ is this: When we remain in him and he remains in us his love increases our capacity to be filled with the fullness of his very self, his holy love, his essence in us.  We grow and grow some more so that he can fill us with holy love more and more.  I like to think we start out with the capacity of a thimble when we first come to Christ.  As we continue in obedient faith, he grows our capacity to the size of a Starbucks “tall” cup, then to a swimming pool size capacity, to that of a great lake, and then to what William  Booth composed when he wrote the song, “O Boundless Salvation, Deep Ocean of Love.”  In Christ there is always the potential for more growth in grace, more capacity to love God and others, even the unlovable.  In him we may increase in our capacity to love and to live fully in the life he intends for us in the Kingdom of God. 

Thanks be to God!