Car Trouble as an Analogy

Earlier this week, my car was not working properly.  More specifically, my heat was not working.  Now in the summer this would be entirely unimportant but seeing as I live in Minnesota and it is still winter, this is no small intrusion.  Fortunately, I have dealt wth this before and I had an inkling at what the issue may be.  I popped my hood at the gas station, remove the coolant-reservior cap and behold, I was out of coolant. After filling the reservior, letting the engine run for a while, and then checking to make sure that it was holding fluid, I was back on my way, heated and pleased.

Luckily, this was a minor ordeal and easily fixable.  But while I was driving later that day an analogy of humanity came to my mind.  I believe it was Clive Staples Lewis who uttered the analogy of man as a finely-tuned mechanical engine.  And man, being this engine, required a fuel source and that the only fuel source for man, the intended fuel source of man, is God Himself.  Remember: in Him we live, and move, adn have our being and that we live on every Word that flows from His mouth.

But this can be carried further.  There have been many times, daily it seems, that I know that my engine is not working properly.  We can all assess when something is not right; when the mood is depressing, the body feel achy, the relationships are strained, or the mind is just not as sharp as it should be.  Normally I would simply chalk this up to an 'off day.'  But I am beginning to be come to an agreement with Lewis that if I am out of sorts that it is first-and-foremost a theological issue.

And, like my car issue, I know how to deal with theological issues: repent, ask for forgiveness, come to Christ in faith, pray, worship, fellowship, and study His Word.  This is the prescription, but like all medicine it can be tough to swallow.  But if you (speaking to myself here too!) find that you are not running correctly, if your life seems out of sorts, I assure you that seeking after God is the path to healing, whatever the ailments may be!