Plugged In and Turned On
It happens to all public speakers from time to time. It happened to me one Sunday. My microphone was not turned on. Trying to explain the situation, I found myself saying, “Gee, I’m plugged in, but not turned on!”
Later that day, as I reflected on the service, I considered how that can also happen in our Christian walk and the same can be said of us. We are plugged into the power source of the universe, God, yet His power is not being felt in our lives because we are not turned on.
The dictionary defines being turned on as “to start the flow of something.” The power is there all the time like water behind the dam. To begin the flow and experience the surging power in our lives requires the simple but necessary task of permitting God to flow into our lives. And how do we do this? Well, the nearest word in the Greek New Testament for “turned on” is the word anastato. It means to “stir up” or “excite.” In Acts 17:6 when the new convert Jason was dragged by the Thessalonian mob before the city officials, they said of Jason and the absent Pauls and Silas, “These men have turned (anastato) the world upside down…”
Perhaps we need to “turn on” God’s power by turning our world upside down. Maybe we need to be “stirred up” and excited daily about our Christian work. When that happens, then we become the “empowered” people of God. Plugged in and turned on!
