The Bell of the Spirit

My uncle owned a Texaco service station in Livermore, California in the 1950’s. It was back in the days when a car pulled in for gas four uniformed men would run out to meet the incoming customer. One attendant greeted the customer. Another checked air pressure in the tires. The last two attendants cleaned the windows and pumped the gas. It was a flurry of attentiveness.

These employees were trained like professional pit crews that service racecars during the Indianapolis 500.  They waited for the sound of a bell to go off that would set them on a dead run to greet the incoming customer before the car came to a full stop. The bell rang when the tires of the customer’s vehicle rolled across an air-filled rubber tube that stretched across the entrance to the gas pumps. A jolt of compressed air would then activate a bell ringer located inside the service station.

I share this story because a few days ago the Lord retrieved the image of the rubber hose from the memories of my childhood. I knew a word lingered behind the image. The rubber tube and the responding service crew was a metaphor describing the degree of preparation and attentiveness we will need to exhibit to the world in the coming days. We need to be ready to move when the Spirit gets our attention.

There are people and circumstances arriving in your life that will present unique opportunities for you to respond with an immediate and premeditated response of love. Evaluate your spiritual preparation. Gather your team and run the exercise drills required to release your unique brand of Kingdom service. If you do this the next time the Spirit alerts you to an incoming need you will be standing in their presence fully prepared to serve them before their spiritual tires stop rolling. The amazed recipients of these of over-the-top expressions of care will become living testimonies of the supernatural love of the Father.