Looks Like a Leak to Me

The other day I walked out to the driveway to discover that a tire on my wife’s van was flat (did you notice how I said “my wife’s van”?). This will be a great time to get some grease on my hands and impress my wife, I thought to myself. I removed the tire and found the culprit, an embedded nail. So I chunked the tire into the back of my truck and headed towards the Pit Stop Tire and Lube.

I pulled into the bay. As I opened up my door, the worker asked, “You got a tire that needs to be aired up?” As a matter of fact, I do, but how did he know I had a tire that needed to be fixed. He hadn’t seen the tire in the back of my truck. “Yeah, it looks like your front passenger tire is leaking a little bit.” He put the air gauge on the tire, and he was correct. I hadn’t even noticed that the tire on my truck had been leaking air the last couple of days. It took a person with a trained eye to notice the slow leak.

Slow leaks can happen in our lives as well, and those slow leaks can carry different consequences. When you start neglecting time in the word, time in prayer, time in biblical community, you will probably experience a slow leak in your joy, peace, patience, love, etc. I know because I have experienced those types of leaks.

It’s always good to have people in your life that can identify those slow fades. And when those people ask you about it, it is because they love you and care about you.

The writer of Ecclesiastes commented, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, “Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” If you are trying to live by yourself and for yourself, you will be overpowered and underinflated. But if you walk with Christ and with other believers, you can do battle with just about anything.

Don’t run away from biblical community. We all need it whether we realize it or not. Plus, it’s hard to love Christ and not love His people.