Corroded Batteries

When I was 17 I owned a 1976 Camaro similar to the one pictured on the front of this post, except it had a red pinstripe down the sides. My dad used to call it the silver bullet. Someone had stolen the actual locking cylinder that kept the driver door locked, and the battery had some nasty corrosion going on, but other than that I really loved that car!

Thankfully no one ever tried to steal the car, but those corroded batteries, what a pain! Every now and then I’d hop in and crank the engine only to get nothing. Of course this caused me to be delayed or even worse, get stuck somewhere, and funny enough the thought of buying a new battery just never came to mind (I was young and stupid).

Stock image of a corroded battery

One day I ran into my cousin James in a Safeway parking lot, when he happened to notice me trying unsuccessfully to start my car. After having a look, he explained that corrosion was keeping the battery from making the needed connection. The battery fluid leaks out causing the metal to fuse with other parts. The good news was we were at a grocery store and he said that coke would clean it in a jiffy!

James ran into the store and bought a bottle of coke. After disconnecting the cables, he poured some onto the corroded areas and we watched it fizz and bubble. Once he wiped it clean and reconnected the cables, the car started right up! It was like magic.

My favorite thing about that experience was that the magic didn’t stop there! I carried around a bottle of coke in the car with me after that. Once after school, sure enough it did it again. With my head under the hood as I was following the routine my cousin taught me, a group of boys walked up just about the time I was getting ready to hop back into the driver’s seat. “Need any help?”, they asked, perhaps thinking they could rescue a damsel in distress. Cranking the engine in that moment and hearing it purr, I looked up with a gleam in my eye and said “nope”. I quickly hopped out, closed the hood, hopped back in and started to pull out. “Have a nice day, boys”, I said. Their jaws were still dropped as I was driving away.

Have you ever noticed that, no matter how good your intentions, you so often wind up falling short – not only of the standards of others but even the standards you hold yourself to? Maybe this sounds familiar… Did I really just lose it in a way that looks like an emotional bomb exploded? Did I really just say the opposite of what I wanted to say? Did I really just reinforce the wall between me and someone I love? Did I really just give in to that temptation, or spend all that time doing one thing instead of another, or allow fear of what someone else thinks to drive me into doing or believing something I don’t agree with, or act like I was offended by what was said when it could have easily been me that said it? I really screwed things up, didn’t I! How is it that no matter how hard I try, I keep doing the things I hate? I should know better!

The bible calls that sin simply because it involved something you knew to be right and didn’t do it (James 4:17). Sin doesn’t float around in the atmosphere like a virus waiting to be caught. Mark recorded in the seventh chapter of his gospel a conversation Jesus had with a crowd, where He was explaining that sin, or what defiles us, already exists inside of us. The sinful things we do are a result of who we are at the core of our being.

Simply put, sin manifests itself like the fluid that leaked out of my car battery and corroded everything it came into contact with. In like manner, it builds around our hearts and prevents us from making the power connection with our life giving God. That’s why no matter how good we may appear on the outside, every single one of us is corrupt on the inside. As long as the corrosion exists, we are blinded from the truth of God’s immense love for us, driven by all the things that stand in the way of everything that will empower us to live full and free, and for eternity.

We can no more clean up our own hearts than my battery could clean up itself. It takes an outward source, one powerful enough to clean the corrosion. There is only one that is strong enough, and that is the blood of Jesus the Messiah. He became the perfect sacrificial lamb for us, not just for a moment or a year or a jubilee, but all ways and always. 1 John 1:7 tells us His blood cleanses us from all sin, WOOT WOOT!

So how do we get the blood applied to our hearts? John 16:5-15 tells us it is through the Holy Spirit, who points out the sin and knows where the blood needs to be applied. For all who believe and are willing, He not only applies it but He also takes up residence! He becomes our guide, teacher, comforter, friend, voice of truth, and so much more – bringing life, provision, and power to everything He touches! Why? Because John 3:16 tells us that God the Father loves us so much that He wants us to be part of His family for eternity.

Are you not yet a part of God’s family? You can be! Pray this simple prayer with me:

Lord Jesus, I realize at the very core of my being I am corrupt. Even when I want to do good, I fail. I know now this corrosion is sin, and this sin is preventing me from experiencing Your power in my life. Thank you for being the sacrificial lamb, and dying on the cross so that your blood could be applied to my sin, taking it away so that I can live and be with you for all eternity, and so that I can have the Holy Spirit with me here, now, in these dark days that are so hard to live in. I accept your free gift. Please come into my heart to live and be with me forever. Amen.

Did you pray that prayer? I would love to hear from you and help answer any questions you may have. Don’t hesitate to reach out or to leave a comment.

Lisa (aka Alabastersky)