Meet Katsuhiko Shibuta, 23, employee for this Idemitsu gasoline station in Koga City, on the island of Kyushu, Japan. In order to conserve space, these kind of pumps descend from the ceiling with the pull of a thick cord instead of a pump island. Pumps of this kind in Japan will be phased out from next year.
No need to write about the price of gas to people in the USA, I’m sure, but did you know here in Japan we pay for gasoline by the liter? Yep, and this week the price of one liter (almost one quart) of high octane is at ¥167, or $1.60! Times that by four and you get $6.40 a gallon! Regular is priced a little lower at ¥156 ($6.00 a gallon) and diesel at ¥132 ($5.04 a gallon). Needless to say, people here in Japan are beginning to use public busses, trains and their bicycles more for moving around. Yep, the cost of oil is going up all over the world. There is not a place on this globe that is exempt from the high cost of energy.
This fuel crunch has reminded me a lot this past week of what a Bible School teacher told us many years ago. W. W. Patterson said, “Whenever one sees something being escalated in the natural realm, there is a spiritual counterpart.”
The Word of God teaches very clearly that OIL is significant of the power of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God was poured out upon the early church on the day of Pentecost from above, and empowered them to go forward into the uttermost parts of the world. People of the early church filled their spiritual tanks everyday in order to keep moving forward with the truths of the gospel. The church back then spent lots of time getting filled up. Their movement forward into remote parts of the earth was fueled by the miracles, signs, wonders and work of the Holy Spirit. AND the believers back then kept their spiritual engines tuned! They had clean spark plugs and fine-tuned points. They spent lots of time with God and always had a full tank, so to speak.
Time is money. If we go to God’s Holy Spirit filling station and spend time, we can get our hearts filled up with spiritual power! This principle is seen in Isaiah 55:2 where it says, “Ho, everyone that is thirsty, come to the waters, and he that has no money; come, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which does not satisfy?” How in the world these days can we buy something without money? Especially the power of the Holy Spirit? We cannot! We must spend time, not money!
This weekend, why not head for your local GOD STATION? Spend some time, and get filled up with High Octane Holy Ghost from God’s descending pump. Get your heart tuned and get a fresh oil change? Remember, time is money! This is how we’ve got to learn to buy in these days.