Plugged in Yet Disconnected

Ahhh... it's one of my favorite times of year. The cool winds are beginning to blow in the deep south, and I can hear leaves crunching under my children's feet as they romp in the back yard.  We're welcoming fall at our house, and with that comes a necessary trip into the attic to pull out orange straw pumpkins, vibrant leaves, and gourds galore!

My mother-in-law and I formulated a decorating plan last Friday, and we took my three kids and excitedly entered the attic to hunt for the bright orange box full of fall decorations. Everything was going well until darkness enveloped us. My boys were horsing around, and I figured one of them broke the utility lamp hanging from the rafters.

I checked the extension cord to see if it was still plugged into the outlet. It was. 

Then I changed the light bulb.

But darkness remained.

So I did what any good Southern girl would do- I called a man!

My father-in-law walked through my kitchen door with his own utility lamp five minutes later, and as soon as my mother-in-law placed the new lamp in my hand, light illuminated my attic. My son Joey had diagnosed the problem. Even though the extension cord was plugged into the outlet, the lamp was not plugged into the extension cord.

All that time it had been plugged in yet disconnected.

By this point, I was frustrated by the wasted time and my father-in-law's wasted trip. But the Lord used this illustration to show me that I can be just like my utility lamp. I can be plugged into Jesus. I can know Him as my Lord and Savior. But if I'm not careful, I can easily become disconnected. My light can be snuffed out when my eyes aren't fixated on Him. I need to constantly peer through the magnifying glass of God's Word and look for disconnections in my life.

Jesus came to give us abundant life in Him. He never desired that we plug into the source and then decide for ourselves how to live. He wants us to remain fully connected to Him so that He can transform our lives.

In her book Lies Women Believe, Nancy Leigh DeMoss says, "We are not to be molded by the culture, as so many believers are today, but be so filled with the Spirit and the Word of God that our lives will penetrate and convict the culture around us." We need to be "transformers," not "conformers."

When we're conformers, we become disconnected and don't shed light. In fact, we blend right into the darkness. But when we're transformers, our lights blaze so brightly that we penetrate the darkness around us.

Let's sparkle together today as transformers! May we keep our eyes fixed firmly on Jesus- the author, perfector, and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2).