We Walk By Faith Part 7 Series

We Walk By Faith Part 7

The Ice Box and The Refrigerator Mentality

Scriptures: Deuteronomy 11:31-32; Jeremiah 31:33-34; Hebrews 10:14-25

Introduction

In my last message I shared with you that we are empowered by the Holy Spirit and therefore our faith lies within our understanding of how the Holy Spirit operates through us. Part of our problem as Christians is that we attempt to place the source of our faith on us and we know how we constantly fail. We fail to follow directions; to obey; to do those things that we know is in our best interest. Because we constantly fail individually in some things, it is difficult for us to believe that we can walk in real faith as we focus on our failures. As we begin to understand that our faith is not based on our abilities to do anything but on our abilities to believe in the one who empowers us then we can begin to see that we are vessels to be used by God to make changes in this world. All we have to do is believe without doubting in the power of the Holy Spirit to operate in our lives. Our faith being tied to the Holy Spirit is now based on a solid source versus being based on a natural source (us) that fails.

Previously I shared with you that we are like the fan that cannot do anything until it is plugged into a power source. Once it is plugged into the source, it is able to be placed where it can do the most good. Likewise for us, once we are plugged into the right power source, we allow God to move and use us according to His will. We go as directed and we walk as directed. And what is amazing is that when we know that we are operating in God’s will, we can walk in complete faith and confidence without doubting. This morning I want to expand on this line of thinking as we consider the evolution of the ice box known today as the refrigerator.

I. The Ice Box and Refrigerator

I want to use an analogy of the evolution of the ice box to the current refrigerator to demonstrate what I shared with you last time about the Holy Spirit being within and empowering us to walk in a level of faith that we could not do on our own. As I shared previously, the Holy Spirit is the One operating within us and those “extraordinary” things we accomplish are being done through His power not our own. Therefore regardless of what I am doing, I know that it is not me but the Spirit of God operating through me. So I believe without doubting that when I allow the Holy Spirit to operate through me, I know that God’s will is being done. In this I rest my faith. So my faith is not powered by what rests within me the person, but who envelopes me, the Holy Spirit. How does this happen? Let’s start with a little history about the ice box.

The Ice Box

Before there were electric refrigerators, there was the ice box. The ice box was a large appliance (non-electric) that people owned to keep their food cold. The original ice box came in different sizes but they all operated in a similar manner. The ice box had two compartments, one at the bottom for the food and one on top for the ice. Those who owned one were fortunate in that they had a place to store their leftover food that needed to be cooled without throwing it out due to spoilage. In order for the icebox to work the owners had to go to an ice store and buy a huge block of ice to put in the ice department of the ice box. As the ice melted, it cooled the lower department that held the food. The ice had to be purchased every so often to keep the box operating. Now you can imagine what would happen if you went on vacation and the ice melted. Whatever you had in the refrigerator would spoil quickly. The old fashion ice box is similar to the saints who lived during the Old Testament times. God’s word did not rest within them providing them with a constant source to keep them from going bad (spoiled), it was placed before them and they had to make choices about it. In other words, just as the ice had to be brought in from an external source to keep the food safe, in the Old Testament, the word of God was brought to the people to keep them safe. They did not have an internal source as we do today. Consider the following Scripture from Deuteronomy 11:31-32.