Mid-Flight Refueling

Bible Reading: Psalm 119:33-38

“Can we please skip family devotions tonight?” Anson asked after dinner. “Max is at Wyatt’s house, and they said they’d wait for me before starting a video game. Besides, we already learned about God this week—we were just at church yesterday. So can’t we skip devotions this one time?”

Dad looked at Anson thoughtfully. “True, we did go to church yesterday, but I think reading the Bible—personally or as a family—is a little like mid-flight refueling.”

“Like what?” asked Anson.

“When I flew with the Air National Guard, our fighter planes got fueled up at the airfield before they took off, but then they would be refueled in the air too,” Dad explained. “I was with the fuel tanker plane, and we’d be a few miles up in the air with the fighter jets maneuvering below us. We had to fly along at exactly the same speed, and then the operator aboard our tanker would lower a pipe from the underside of the plane and position it to connect with the jet.”

“How fast would you be going?” Anson asked.

“Oh, about four or five hundred miles per hour,” said Dad.

“Wow!” Anson’s mouth dropped open in amazement. “I didn’t know that!”

“Refueling planes in mid-flight keeps them going so they can fly much farther and accomplish more without having to come back to the base,” said Dad. “Christians need to refuel too. We need Jesus to refresh us spiritually. He does that for us at church as we hear God’s Word preached and explained, but we need Jesus more than once a week—we need Him all the time! One way to remember that He’s always with us is to spend time with Him as we pray and listen to what He says to us in the Bible. It reminds us to depend on Him and that He’s given us the power to do what’s right. That’s why I think it’s helpful to have devotions every day—so we can let Him refuel us spiritually as a family.”

“Okay, I think I get it,” said Anson.

“Good.” Dad winked as he picked up his Bible. “Once we’re done refueling, you’ll have plenty of time to go play with your friends before you’re due back at the base.”

-Lucinda J. Rollings

How About You?

Have you been getting mid-flight refueling by spending time with Jesus? He is with you all the time, and He wants to continually refresh you with His love, peace, and joy. So take time to refuel spiritually by reading your Bible, thinking about what it says, and talking with Him. Let Him give you the fuel you need to get through each day.

Today’s Key Verse:
Hebrews 4:12 God’s Word is living and powerful. It is sharper than a sword…It cuts straight into where the soul and spirit meet and it divides them. (NLV)

Today’s Key Thought:

Let Jesus refuel you