All of us have probably tackled a job without realizing that we had a tool right next to us that would have made the job much easier. In fact, because we did not use that tool, we may not have been able to complete the job at all. Only later did we realize that we could have done what was required if we had taken advantage of what was in our toolbox.

In the Army we sometimes had to go through a confidence course. As a team we had to cross ditches, scale towers, or some similar challenge. We were given some items to accomplish the task, such as some rope, a couple of boards, and a blanket. At first, the challenge seemed impossible. Each time, however, there was a solution. The things given to us were the key.

There is a humorous but sad illustration from the Civil War of not using something that is available. The leader of the Union Army was General George McClellan. He was loved by his troops, but he was an overly cautious man. He didn’t take any risks. After the battle of Antietam, the deadliest single day of combat in US history, the South was reeling and retreating. McClellan could have scored a great victory for the North. Some say he could have won the war on that day and saved many lives in the long run. McClellan, however, did not take advantage of the situation and withdrew his own army. He thought his soldiers needed and deserved to rest.

President Abraham Lincoln was extremely frustrated. He wrote a note to the general which read:

“If you don’t want to use the Army, I should like to borrow it for a while.”

I am sure McClellan did not appreciate the sarcasm from the Commander in Chief. But the point was made. The president wanted his general to use what was available to him. That is why Lincoln had placed him in charge and given him the Army of the North. In Lincoln’s eyes, it was as if McClellan didn’t know he had something at his disposal, something very powerful, that would cause him to be victorious. (McClellan was later replaced by Ulysses S. Grant, who was a much bolder leader and led the North to victory.)

In the spiritual life, every believer has been given a tool–a power, if you will–for spiritual victory. Paul discusses it in Rom 8:11. He says that the same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead lives within every believer. That power can be used to set us free from slavery to sin and to produce the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. Such a life will be greatly rewarded in the world to come (Rom 8:17).

That is unbelievable power. But how many believers do not know that this “tool” is available to them? How many are like McClellan and simply don’t use it? Many believers think the way to spiritual health is through legalistic rules. Others may think that it is through emotional or religious experiences. Still others may think that godliness doesn’t even matter since the believer knows he will be in the kingdom of God no matter what. Why even use such a tool?

We have an “army” of power. We should ask the Spirit of God, through what we see in the Scriptures, to make us more like Christ. We should ask the Lord to live through us through His Spirit. We should ask the Spirit to transform even our thinking (Rom 12:1-2).

If we don’t, I can imagine that at the Judgment Seat of Christ, the Lord will say something to us that will be similar to what Lincoln said to McClellan. I am sure it won’t be sarcastic. Nevertheless, it will cause us grief. Maybe the Lord will say a toned-down version of Lincoln’s message. It will go something like this: “I gave you My Spirit. Why didn’t you use Him?”