HUMAN JUMPER CABLES
	One little light. That's all it took to render our car totally unusable. The little light in the rear of our vehicle was left on one night after we unloaded some things, and it stayed on for several days while we were gone. When we got back, everything in that car said, "I'm not starting," because that one little light totally drained the car's battery, of course. But then came the hero - our friend in his pick-up truck with his trusty jumper cables. And those cables delivered the energy that our flat, old battery needed to run again! What does it take to get a drained and tired battery going again? A jolt from jumper cables that infuses the energy needed to revive it. And what does it take to get a drained and tired person going again? Human jumper cables that deliver new energy to revive them! I'm guessing that you know someone right now who is pretty depleted - emotionally, mentally, maybe spiritually, even physically. When they turn the key, not much is happening because their battles, their responsibilities have left them unable to get going again. That's why God has given us each other. To be jumper cables for each other when we sense that someone we know is pretty run down. If you keep your eyes open, you'll see someone in need of an emotional and spiritual "jump start" almost every day of your life. There's a wonderful example of that in 2 Timothy 1:16-17. This is the last letter Paul wrote. He was away from most of his friends, locked up in prison in Rome, and he knew that he might not leave that prison alive. Then along comes an unsung hero named Onesiphorus. He is God's jumper cables to help the great apostle find the energy to go on. Listen to Paul's testimony and think about how you can be such a "jumper cable" for someone you know: "May the Lord grant [His] mercy to the family of Onesiphorus, for he often showed me kindness and minis-tered to my needs [comforting and reviving and bracing me like fresh air]! He was not ashamed of my chains and imprisonment [for Christ's sake]. No, rather when he reached Rome, he searched diligently and eagerly for me and found me." When you're one of God's "jump-starters", you wake up in the morning and say, "Lord, show me who needs me today." Then you look for, even go out of your way if necessary, to call that person who needs encourage-ment, to write to them, e-mail them, or visit them. It's almost always a sacrifice to do that because of all the things you have to do. But you may have nothing more important to do than this extension of Jesus' love to someone who is really depleted. Your joy can jump-start their joy. Your praying in faith can jump-start their faith. Your affirmation of their value and their significance can jump-start them into believing in themselves again. Your reminder of their worth to God may just be the spiritual jolt they need to get going again. You may say, "Yes, but I need someone to jump-start me!" You think about your own burdens, problems, and feelings. The greatest way to get out of your pit is to reach out and help someone else get out of theirs: "He who refreshes others will himself be refreshed" (Proverbs 11:25). You have what someone needs today to get started again. Don't just cruise on by, oblivious to the needs right in front of you! "Lord, show me who needs me today." That's the prayer that will make you the conduit to deliver the resources of God to someone who really can't go on without them. YOU ARE GOD'S JUMPER CABLES! - Selected