Stay Fresh and Valid
You must have observed that most medicines, chemicals and food come with an expiry date. The reason for expiry dates on product is simply for buyers to be aware that after a certain date, the quality of the product starts to degenerate and can be harmful to users.
Even our driver’s license and international passport which are the main and most widely acceptable means of identification come with an expiry date. Imagine you are in dire financial need and someone gives you a cheque of N150, 000. You excitedly rush to the bank to cash the cheque. As you present the cheque, you are asked for a means of identification. You quickly bring out your driver’s license which unknown to you expired the previous day. The next thing you hear is “I’m sorry, we can’t pay you. Your driver’s license has expired.” The fact that the license expired just a day ago is immaterial. It’s not valid, so you can’t use it!
Having an expired means of identification or expired papers can put one in an awkward and embarrassing situation. It can also prevent one from accessing certain benefits. Expired documents also put one at risk. You stand the risk of paying a large fine if any of your vehicle papers have expired. Many people have been deported for having in their possession expired passports, visas, work permits and other travel documents. It is basically to avoid all these uncomfortable and humiliating situations that we take efforts to regularly renew our ID’s and other important documents. It is to avoid food poisoning and other health complications that we check the expiry date of food and medicines before buying them. But when it comes to our spiritual life, what do we do to ensure we don’t have any stale or expired thing in us and with us?
In Psalm 92:10, David spoke about fresh oil being poured on him. If there is fresh oil or anointing, then there definitely is stale or expired anointing. Stale food doesn’t smell nice and has a bitter, sour taste. No one in their right mind would want to eat stale food. Yet we allow things of great spiritual value to go stale. The anointing of God is God’s seal of ownership on us (2 Corinthians 1:21). God releases His anointing on us to set us apart for His service (Exodus 30:30), and to empower us to serve Him effectively (1 Samuel 16:12-13, 1 Kings 19:16-17). The symbol of God’s anointing is oil (Exodus 29:7, Isaiah 61:1-3). Have you noticed how unused palm oil in a jerry-can gets solid? When oil is in this state, you can’t fry with it. You have to first heat it up. So many of us are in desperate need of a spiritual heating up as we have repeatedly blocked avenues for the Holy Spirit to express Himself through us, thereby allowing the oil of God upon our lives to go stale. If you don’t change the oil in your car, the oil loses its usefulness and the engine of your car can be affected. Oil needs to be in use to stay fresh and useful. When we don’t frequently use the abilities and gifts God has endowed us with, the anointing of God on our lives goes stale. When we don’t regularly spend time in God’s presence to receive a fresh infilling of the Holy Spirit, the anointing of God in us goes stale.
The anointing always looks for a righteous vessel to flow into so God’s power can fill that vessel and flow through that vessel. Hebrews 1:9 says “You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness, therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.” This is why we are counseled in Colossians 3:5-8 to get rid of sin. When we have un-confessed and unrepentant sin in our lives, when we do not daily go to God for the oil of His Spirit to cleanse out all impurities in us, the anointing of God on our lives can go stale.
Colossians 3:10 tells us that the life of a believer is to be characterized by continual renewal. We must continue to renew our minds, our commitment to God and the anointing of God upon our lives to stay spiritually fresh. As you need to renew your papers for them to be valid, we need continual spiritual renewal to be valid. We need to continually dwell in God’s presence to receive a fresh infilling of the power of God to be a valid believer; to be a believer who is well grounded in the Word and ways of God, to be an authentic and bona fide citizen of heaven.
Check your spiritual ‘papers’? Are they valid or have they expired? If they are, go to God for a renewal. Go to God to refresh and restore you and to establish you firmly in His kingdom.
PHOTO CREDIT: creationswap
