Part 1 of 3 on Driving a Lamborghini
Some neighbors have a small auto museum, maybe 20 cars parked in front of their house, in their two driveways, and in front of their neighbors Seeing these caused me to remember some of mine.
I learned on a land rocket, a ’63 Viking Blue Ford Galaxie 500, with a high compression V8. My own first car: a ’64 Ford Falcon Futura, looked sporty but the straight 6 was a dog. Then came two Ford vans, and ’78 Volvo 242 arrived, slow and unreliable, but safe. My fastest, an ’87 turbo Chrysler LeBaron GTS that cornered like it was on rails…when out of the shop. Two Mustang ragtops brought a lot of fun.
With each, knowing their strengths and weaknesses allowed me to trust them. Meaning, I drove each differently, to match its traits. That concept went to new heights when I bought seven laps in a Lamborghini Gallardo 550 at Exotics Raceway, on a 1.8 mile road course with 8 turns, one a tight hairpin. 550 horses, named after a Spanish bull.
The low stance of the Gallardo, the grip of its tires and fine center of gravity meant I could trust hitting corners hard with no fear of tipping.
I could trust the braking. Megan, my instructor, taught me to avoid coasting by always either accelerating or braking. I could go in hot, brake, then straighten and accelerate.
I could trust the car’s power to get me through the course.
Earlier, I needed some extra power to change my deeply imbedded selfishness. I had left God, tried to change, but couldn’t. I gave him permission to work and within a week, others asked what had changed Jesus told us we receive power when the Holy Spirit comes to us (Acts 1:8). Let’s explore that.
The Lambo’s power came by getting on the track and hitting the gas; we access the Spirit’s power by allowing the Spirit to fill us. Paul described that:
“…be filled with the Spirit…:, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart…, giving thanks always for all things to God…submitting to one another” (Ephesians 5:18-21).
“Be filled” is the command, then he gave five participles, or steps in being filled. The more we choose to do these, the more filled we get with the Spirit. Or, the more the Spirit gets into us.
We talk about God stuff with our fellow believers, and with others. We sing songs to and about God. We give thanks, because gratitude tightens our connection with him. And we put others interests on a par with our own, the antidote to selfishness
And as we do this, the Spirit brings more power into our lives. Trusted spiritual Lambo power.
Kick Starting the Application
How often do you sense the power of the Spirit in your life? With each temptation successfully resisted? With each song of praise you sing? Each time you serve someone? How can you grow in power?