I'm Not Wired For This

I

n late August of 1983, I was frantically preparing to leave the United States to spend my third year of college studying abroad in France.  Packing for a year proved quite a challenge.   There were so many things to consider as I contemplated everything I needed to take with me for a year.  I packed enough clothes, socks, toiletries, cassette tapes, batteries, paper, pens, etc. to last me for the months ahead.  I even sent my winter clothes ahead of me so they would arrive well before the start of cold weather.

One of my last purchases was a power converter.  My hairdryer, my clock, and my radio, were all wired for 110 volts, the proper standard for the United States.  However, Europe uses 220 volts for its standard, meaning that my appliances would not work in France. A French plug-in is different from one in the United States.  Moreover, each country's electrical outlets were configured much differently from their American counterparts. This meant I had to have a piece of equipment which allowed the electrical current flowing from a European outlet to be converted into the correct voltage for my appliances.  Without the converter, my equipment would have been useless.

Although there was an electrical source coursing through the walls of my apartment and the hotels and inns where I stayed, it was of no use to me without a proper converter.  Only when the electricity passed through the converter were my appliances able to work correctly.  The converter served as the mediator between the electrical current and the appliance, providing the correct relationship between the two so that they were both able to accomplish their objectives.  The electricity could flow and the appliances could perform their functions properly because they received the proper amount of power in the exact form necessary to make them useful and productive.

The Apostle Paul understood the importance of a "converter."  He understood that man's life was useless without the proper relationship to God.  God's power was of no use unless it was administered to man by a mediator, by someone who could provide the means whereby God's power could infuse the life of a person, making him/her useful to accomplish the mission God created for him/her.  Much like the electrical converter served as the mediator between the electrical source and the appliance, so Christ serves as the mediator between man and God, making it possible for man to enjoy a proper relationship with his God.

In 1 Timothy 2:5, Paul writes, "For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus."  Here Paul leaves no doubt as to the role of Christ in God's plan of salvation.  Christ serves as our mediator; he makes it possible for us to experience God's power, his love, and his salvation by providing direct access to the Father. 

When we accept him as Lord and Savior, we find that God's love and power flow into and through our lives.  We then have the right relationship with God and we can correctly accomplish those things God assigns to us.  Without the work of Jesus, there is no way for man to tap God's resources.  Man would forever lie on life's shelf, lacking the power to live in a manner pleasing to God.  But through the sacrifice of Christ, through his mediation, we are accepted by God, we have a correct relationship with him, and his power flows through us.  Is God's power flowing through your life?  Are you wired to receive him today?