Time to Change the Oil

     Generally, we are to change our oil and filter every so many miles or within at least 3 months to keep our motors clean and running well.  The oil normally has a light golden caramel color to it and is thick in consistency.  When we don’t change our oil in a long time it gets very dirty and it looks very nasty in color.  It also gets thin and runny like water.  The oil isn’t the only thing that needs to be change but the filter, too.  The filter is important to help keep the trash from flowing through all the other parts of the engine.  Two things can happen if the oil filter isn’t changed.  One, the oil will have a harder time passing through filter and oiling other parts.  Two, it could totally stop the flow of oil completely and destroy the engine quickly.  So, what does this has to do with us spiritually?     We will see the similarity of an oil change to new wine in old wine bottles.  Matthew 9:17. “Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.”  We will break this scripture down to bring more understanding.

“Neither do men put new wine into old bottles:”

     New oil and old filter and vice versa doesn’t mix too well, neither does this method work in our spiritual life.     Spiritually, God’s kingdom will never mix with the world’s way of thinking.  We can see this from Matthew 6:24 “ No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”  Jesus clarifies this with Matthew 22:37 “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.”  What can happen if we mix the two?

“else the bottles break”

    Well, in an oil change, there may be some new oil but when we don’t put on a new filter the oil still can’t move through the engine as effectively as it should.  There is still trash and old oil remaining in that old filter which will break down the new oil quicker and make it less efficient.  The ending results is the motor is going to still break down more quickly than it should.  Our spiritual man can do the same thing.     How can this be so?  We may be hearing the word of God, but actions show differently.  James 1:22-24 “22) But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. 23) For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: 24) For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.”  Don’t mistake this that we’re to be super perfect.  No, we’ll still stumble from time to time.  This is more about not even trying. 

“and the wine runneth out”

     The parts ended up being wore out and oil leaks past the parts it lubricates and goes out the exhaust or any other places like the gaskets.  At this point, the motor will continue to overheat and eventually break down.  Can we do the same?     Yes, we can break down and fall back into some of the world’s ways.  This can be done through our thought process getting off  track with the word of God.  What we have done is reversed Colossians 3:2 “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.” This can eventually cause us to stumble on what’s true or not, which can lead to a complete breakdown of the motor, or in this case, our spiritual lives.

​“and the bottles perish”

   Since we’re only changing the oil and not the filter or neither one for a long period of time our motor just may clunk out and no longer run anymore.  Could the same results happen to us?     Yes, we may not lose our salvation but our blessings and protections may stop outside of God’s Mercy and Grace.  Spiritually, it’s saying we have leaked out enough of God’s word and eventually become deceived to the world’s way again. 2 Corinthians 11:3 “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.”  Notice what the serpent has done.  He beguiled “deceived or lied” to us and changed our thinking processes, which ends up corrupting us.  Remember the serpent is like a roaring lion. 1 Peter 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:” meaning he’s looking for someone weak in the word, but there is Good News for us.

“but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.”

     When we really do change the oil and filter properly our engines will last a lot longer than a half way or no oil change.  What does this mean spiritually?     We have put Jesus in our heart and attend to his word to be able to overcome the world.  We do this by not letting evil consume us from a partial change, but now overcome evil and prosper as well.  Paul even states that we can do this in Romans 12:21 “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.” and Galatians 5:16 “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.”

     It may be time for our oil change and get back into the word and get our spiritual cleansing to get our spiritual man running again.  Those who don’t know Jesus read picture caption below get your spiritual man going as well.

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