Every so often, I get a new phone. Every new phone comes with more powerful features than the previous version.

In the past, I would study the manual, watch YouTube videos, and look through the settings to see all of the new cool features. I would spend several weeks getting the phone set up so I could use all of its power.

Now, we are in the era of AI artificial intelligence. AI is everyone and has even made its way onto phones. It’s been over 20 years since I purchased my first
“smart” phone. With AI on the phones, does that mean the phones are even smarter than what they were?

I find that I no longer study the manual or spend too much time looking at new features. Instead, I use my phone mostly as a phone and to check email.

My phone is so much more powerful, but I ignore its power. Then I see someone pick up their phone and do something amazing. Wow, how did you get your phone to do that?

They’re using the same phone I am, but they’ve unlocked the phone’s power.

What good is having a phone with powerful features and not using them? What good is having all this power but neglecting it?

It’s like I used to say, what good is it to drive in a car that can go 160 mph when the speed limit is 65 mph?

What good is it to be offered abundant life if we stick to the old, worn-out life? Sometimes, we are so comfortable in our discomfort that we never investigate how life could be different.

God’s love empowers us to live differently and discover a life filled with joy, peace, and fulfillment. But what good is any of that if we neglect it?

I neglect the power of my phone by not enabling features or learning new ways to use it. We neglect God’s power of new life by neglecting practices that open us to His power in our lives.

John Wesley talked about the means of grace, such as prayer, reading scripture, and other spiritual practices. You can think of those practices as “means,” roads, or avenues for God’s grace to flow into our lives.

When we neglect these means, we close off avenues for God’s grace to travel to us. We do that by limiting the power of his new life.

It’s as if God wants to drive to our house with the beautiful blessings of new life, but we have decided to close the road for some reason. Instead of experiencing God’s power, we turn him away.

What could happen in your life if you unlocked the power of God’s grace?

This is part of “The Formative Path” a 2024 Fall Sermon Series at St. Paul United Methodist Church in Bloomington, Indiana. For more information and the Weekly Reflection Sheets, go to https://ponderingpassages.com/category/path/