All the bells and whistles

Now God has equipped us to be capable servants of the new covenant, not by authority of the written law which only brings death, but by the Spirit who brings life. (2 Corinthians 3:6 VOICE)

I sometimes fall prey to the pervasive attitude of "I could never do that" when I see someone run a marathon, but the truth is that I have never trained or attempted even a short one, so why would I ever assume I could not do it? The more truthful statement would be to admit I am too doggone intimidated by the race to even enter it!  It isn't that we "could never" as much as we haven't really ever tried all that hard! The good news about our walk with Jesus is that we are "equipped us to be capable servants" - we don't have to worry or wonder if we have the "right stuff" to run the race because we do!

Back in the day, my father was a car salesman for a period of time. He was great at sales, so most of his career involved one forms of sales or another. In those days, the salesman with the biggest sales got to bring home a demonstrator car that he could use for about six months.  It was quite a treat to see dad drive up in some shiny new automobile, complete with all the fanciest of gadgets and features. As dad would have said, it was "fully equipped". The sound system was top notch, the seat upholstered with luxurious fabrics, and when steering wheels were just starting to be adjustable, we had one! 

The "fully equipped" car changed though as new technology came on the market. That demonstrator would be traded in for one of the newest and greatest of "fully equipped" automobiles on the lot - but he always chose something practical and totally serviceable for our family. He probably could have brought home a pick-up or sports car that was "fully equipped", but he always drove home some sedan that would accommodate all the needs of our family. Dad was just that kind of guy - he always met the needs of his family - we were first and foremost in his mind all the time. He was a great example of what our heavenly father is like - for of heavenly father is always thinking of us first!

Our heavenly father wants us to understand how much he has provided for our "equipping" in this life. His intense love requires he provide nothing short of all we need to live godly lives - it is how he rolls!  He doesn't do a half-way job of equipping us for godliness - he goes all out and "fully equips" us with everything we need to overcome the evil without and selfishness within. Whenever we feel a little "incapable", we must turn our eyes to him and recall all he has done to provide all we need to walk this life out in complete confidence. I guess you could say God took great care to make sure we each were equipped with all the "bells and whistles" so that we have every "feature" we require in order to live godly lives. Just sayin!