Throttle Your Faith
7-Apr-09
Faith is essentially trusting God to do what He says He will do, especially when it challenges human possibility, convention or wisdom (Isa 55.8-9, Jn 14.12, Rom 4.5, 20-21, 1 Cor 1.21, 25, Heb 11.6). It is evidenced by action, attitude &/or lifestyle (Jas 2.18). If there is one thing that amazes Jesus, it is faith. The Greek word in the New Testament that's translated into “amazed” gives the sense of wonder or marvel. There are lots of times in Scripture where people were amazed at Jesus’ teaching & miracles. But there are only 2 passages that tell us that Jesus was amazed & both had to do with faith.
When a Roman centurion came to Jesus to have Him heal is highly valued servant, Jesus was amazed at his faith: When Jesus heard this, He was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following Him, He said, "I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel." – Luke 7.9
On another occasion, after Jesus was teaching, the people of His hometown spurned Him to which Scripture records: And He was amazed at their lack of faith. – Mark 6.6
The best analogy that I can think of for faith is the throttle or accelerator of a car. The more throttle you give it, the more power you unleash. This is similar for a Christian. The more you throttle your faith, the more of God’s power you will experience (1 Cor 2.4-5, 2 Thes 1.11). Also, while you are driving your car, you can’t see the engine or the throttle that mounted to it. But you depress the accelerator pedal & you trust that the throttle will open & the engine will respond accordingly. Then you know that it does respond when the engine revs & you begin to accelerate. And for those who have drag raced, you get the same exhilaration when you are trusting God about something in faith as when you are about the launch & the tree lights are dropping.
You always have to be careful not to take an analogy or parable too far, but there’s more that seems fitting. Not everyone’s spiritual engine is running (Col 2.13, Eph 2.1). The key to start your spiritual engine is Christ. Unless you have saving faith in Him & what He’s done for you on the cross, you will burn up when your garage burns down around you (Rom 10.9-11, 2 Thes 1.8-10).
The Bible explains that at the instant someone becomes a Christian, the Holy Spirit of God comes to live in them (Jn 14.15-17, Eph 1.13-14). Interestingly, the word pneumatic, used to describe things operating with air, is derived from the Greek word used for the Spirit. And following the analogy, when the key Christ is twisted in your spiritual ignition, an inexhaustible supply of the Holy Spirit is drawn in. And, that’s right, the more throttle, the more of the Holy Spirit & His amazing power (Acts 1.8, 2 Tim 1.7).
Just as when you throttle more air in your car engine, you will need more fuel, so continues the spiritual analogy. Spiritual fuel could come in many forms, but in order of octane rating can be prayer (Jas 5.16), Bible reading/study (Heb 4.12) & Christian fellowship (Eph 3.17-21). Likewise, things that clog your filters & inhibit spiritual performance include sin (Mk 7.21-23, Rom 6.23, 8.13) & knowingly walking into temptation (Mt 26.41, 1 Cor 10.13). Asking God for forgiveness is like getting your spiritual filters changed (1 Jn 1.8-9). We'll let that suffice for the analogy for now.
Are you at idle or WOT (wide-open-throttle)? Is your engine even running? Need to top-off your tank? Need to change filters?
Start your engine & throttle your faith!!!
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. – Hebrews 12.1-2