ON EMPTY –

ON EMPTY

February 11, 2026

Psalm 51:10-12 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. (NIV)

Two of the responsibilities that I had as a son-in-law to my wonderful mother in law Delores (Gail’s mother) was to be in charge of the remote control and make sure that she always had gas.   Two easy responsibilities. The truth being the remote control had to many buttons and with the limited number of times she drove her car – filling the gas tank was a rarity.

At that point Mom lived about a half hour from us by in our daily phone conversations when we were not in the neighborhood usually came two request.  The conversations would usually go like this “My tv is broke, I can’t get anything on it” The usual problem being the button was pushed that changed the setting to the VCR (I’m dating myself here) and after the right button was pushed changing the setting everything was restored.

The gas in the car situation was a different story. Mom would call and say – “I have to go to the Dr in two weeks and I’m not sure I will have enough gas to get there and home” (I might be exaggerating a bit there) but regardless it was a concern.  I would make the trip to put gas in the car expeditiously to avoid any further worry and concern only to find that the gas gauge was on ¾ or more. But to her it was empty. We would make the trip to the gas station a block away, use the discount card, fill the tank up with the four or five gallons that was needed and once again there was peace.

I thought about these two situations, Gail’s Mom Delores, making sure our life has the right setting and empty gas tanks recently. Gail and I made a trip to Detroit MI to celebrate the life of my cousin Jimmy who had passed away after a lingering illness.

Of course, when we got into the car, my gas tank was almost on empty. My gas tank has a gauge but now we look at the dash to see how many miles are left before we run out of gas. I had 40 miles til empty which was enough to get us to Marienville where gas is 20 cents a gallon cheaper. After driving to Detroit, on our way home Gail asked if we needed gas. To which I responded “We have enough to get to Ohio where the gas will be cheaper. By the time we got to Ohio we were in danger of running out if I soon didn’t get gas so I took the first option in Ohio that was available.

Thinking about these two situations – I thought about how we sometimes loose what we need to get through life by making choices that we shouldn’t or sometimes by accident and we can’t see what is important and what is satisfying. For Delores it was difficult living alone when she couldn’t watch her favorite programs on the television because of a missed setting.

For the gas situation – I thought how many times we are running on empty. We have sacrificed what our soul needs by waiting for something better or when we absolutely positively need what is missing. As we do in our relationship with God when we live in relationship with God based on need. The hymn Trust and Obey speaks that the way to happiness is when we trust and obey.  We trust when the Holy Spirit speaks you need me for everything. We obey through our love for God by keeping God’s commandments and following the Way. (the way: What being a follower of Christ was called in the early beginning of the church.)

Two very important things to consider about making the right choices and not running on empty in being the dwelling place of God in our hearts, minds, and souls.

Some very important thoughts I am writing down this morning in my journal :

God does not merely visit the soul — He desires to inhabit it.

The heart becomes holy ground when surrendered to God.

God dwells where He is welcomed, not where He is merely acknowledged.

The soul was designed to be a sanctuary.

Before we can experience all of God, we must desire dwell with God and God dwell with us.

As we end this morning this scripture is speaking to me, “Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord.” Lamentations 3:40 . May we become a dwelling place for God.

Can we pray together:

Holy and living God, You are not distant or detached. You are the God who draws near, who walks with Your people (with me) who chooses to dwell among us (in me). Open our (my) hearts today to understand what it truly means to make room for You. Remove what crowds You out. Shape us (me) into people who welcome Your holy presence—not just in this place, but in our lives. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

I pray these words help you today and that the Holy Spirit is speaking to you in a very special way.

May the Peace of Christ fill your heart – and the Holy Spirit dwell in you !

Pastor Calvin Cook – 2-11-2026