The highway out of our development is being surfaced with a fresh coating of tar. However, it's just a thin layer, and when we drive along it, we still feel the same old bumps in the road. It looks good, but obviously, it's a quick and easy attempt to improve the appearance of the pavement and seal up the cracks.

I've noticed that in the church, there are those who prefer to have just a sprinkling of the Holy Spirit's anointing, like a top coating. They attend services on Sundays, chat with others about the latest ballgame or fashion, and go home saying that they feel good after being there. But when it comes to going deep with the Lord in personal devotions, Bible reading, prayer, and small group meetings, they say, "I'm just too busy." Perhaps even some of our readers feel like that.

When we respond that way, as a result, we experience only a shallow understanding of the Lord and His purposes for our lives. We can fool people with our life success stories and fancy dress, but when we experience a tragedy or harmful temptations in our lives, we often don't have that deep, abiding strength of the Lord to endure.

The apostle Paul wrote about being stuck on the basics of our faith, which seems to me just like having a top coating of spirituality.

Hebrews 5:12 – For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. (NKJV)

As far as our personal testimony is concerned, is the day we got saved all we can talk about, and very little about what God is currently doing in our lives? This indicates that we may have a shallow faith that isn't experiencing growth in our walk with the Lord.

The road out of our development needs to be dug up and new pavement put down, to get rid of all the bumps. We need to allow the Lord to do the same to us in a spiritual sense, and give us more than just a top coating to withstand the storms of life.

Prayer: O God, may we never be satisfied with just a top coating of Your Spirit, but experience a deep and abiding spiritual relationship with You. Take us past our salvation experience to a place of holy sanctification. In Jesus' mighty name, we pray. Amen.

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About the author:

Allan Smith <agwsmith6@gmail.com>
Innisfil, Ontario, Canada
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