This weekend, Amy, Alex and I went out to test drive some VW vans! No, although it apparently it is Alex’s dream vehicle, it was not the classic hippie vans. It was the newer Chryslerish model – the Routan. Let’s say a new vehicle seems to be in the cards soon, but at this time we were just looking. Anyway, the van was great and all, but there was something that I found particular peculiar and interesting. It may be this way with all European cars, and since all of my vehicles have come out of Detroit or Spring Hill, I was drawn to this one aspect – the fuel gauge.
It did not have an E for Empty and an F for Full, but instead had a 0(zero) for empty and a 1(one) for full. Like I said, other cars may have been doing it this way for years, but for me it was a first, or at least the first time it hit me. It reminded me of two things. First the good old geek joke that there are only 10 kinds of people in the world, those you understand binary and those who don’t. ( for those of you in the second category, 10 is 2 in binary. Like this 00 = 0, 01= 1, 10 = 2, 11 = 3, yeah ok whatever).
Secondly it reminded me once again of this idea of being lukewarm, as there was a ½ in the middle. But really, I want to be a 0 or a 1. Off or on?. And really I want to be obsessed, I want to be on, I want to be 1. And maybe that’s why I noticed it so much, as the zero and one concept made it so black and white, so binary. It was not empty and full, it was on or off. It was just another stark reminder of how we should be living our lives.
Take a look at this video, and think about Romans 12:1-2
1-2 So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. (Romans 12:1-2, The Message)
God wants you to place your life ALL before him, and let him fill you up. If you are on for him, he will make you full. Lets live a binary life in the on position!