A Wire or a Hose?

The hose has to be filled before it can deliver. Put water in one end, and you must wait for that spurt to reach the other end.

A wire is, by nature, always filled and ready to deliver.  Force an electron in one end, and one falls out the other end, instantly, no matter the distance.

I might be wrong there.  My knowledge of electricity was received from “The School of Electrical Shock” at OU, “Ouch University.”  (FYI – Our mascot is called the “Ohno Bird.”  The name came because the costume is a human-size Band-Aid; the arms of the one inside sticking out gives it a bird-like appearance.)  The OU nickname is “Yikes!”  Which is also our war cry.  OU has all the major collegiate sports.  However, because the budget is small, the cash is spent on cool uniforms and forgoes coaching staff.  The budget restrictions have also made it necessary to offer no scholarships; if you want to play, show up at the game time.  OU also has a rather unusual tradition, at the end of every sporting event, and even at the end of each semester, all the students gather around the mascot and sing, “I did it my way.”   As the last note fades, each student throws a roll of gauze into the air. It’s a most moving moment.  One more unique fact, every student is required to minor in emergence medicine.  (I wish I could say I am an alumnus, but I doubt I have completed all the requirements.)

That was fun to write!  There is a bountiful supply of rabbits to chase but, I must move on.  Back to the wire and the hose.  I bring to your attention a pertinent question, “Are you a hose or a wire?” 

A “hose” Christian is always waiting for God to do something more.  Something bold and beautiful.  They wait for a filling or an endowing of something they feel they do not yet have.  While they are confident of being connected to the “source” of life, Life is not happening for them at the moment.  When it does begin to flow, they will be ready and willing.  The problem is that they have a kink in their hose just this side of the connection, which has stopped the flow.  The kink or entanglement is where they ceased to “hunger and thirst for righteousness.”  They appear to be ready for action and in control from that kink on, but, alas, they are not.  The entanglement needs to be straightened out.

A wire is different.  A wire is not empty; it is filled.  When an electron enters on one end, one must exit on the other end.   That may not be the way an electrical engineer might explain it, but it’s the way my mind has made it work.  A wire has a constant readiness to be used.  Once connected to the source, it becomes an extension of that source.  For a Christian, once connected to the Source, we become an extension of the Source.  There are, of course, factors that determine the properties of what comes out of our wire, conditions which the Source, God, can manipulate for His own advantage, but the fact remains that when God exerts His power in us, it will also be through us.  Unless we choose to be “hoses.”

I ask again, which are you today, a wire or a hose?  More importantly, which do you desire to be?

His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of him, who called us by his own glory and goodness….2 Peter 1:3 CSV

Photo – I do not have a picture of a wire or a hose. This is not a great photograph. but it is a great picture. Collin and Cate are helping their parents move warmth from out in the woods into their house. Their attitude is almost as good as their as their expertise. You can’t hear it, but Dad is running the chainsaw behind me.