Electricity and Spiritual Fruit

Yesterday I installed undercabinet lighting in our kitchen. After installing the lights, running the wires, and all of the miscellaneous, slightly-hazardous- knuckle-scraping duties, I turned the power on to the light switch. Nothing. I found a problem and tried again. Nothing. Finally, I discovered that electricity was entering the switch, but not exiting to the lights. Verdict: faulty switch. So, I need to buy a new switch.

In spite of the fact that I hate retro-fitting something, I realized that what happened is a great picture of the Christian life. As believers in the Lord Jesus, we have the Spirit of the Living God residing within us--we have God's strength entering into us. As so often happens though, that power does not flow through us and exit out in spiritual fruit. Why is that? Is it because we have a faulty switch (that is, we are not yet saved by God's grace), or is it that we merely need to turn the switch to the "on" position (that is, willingly yield ourselves to the Lord). I believe the correct answer can be either one, depending on the situation. For example, we would have a faulty switch in need of God's creative work to make us a new creation if we have not trusted in Christ alone for our salvation. But if we have received God's Spirit through salvation, then a new switch is not needed, we merely need to turn the switch to "on." In the case of my lights, it was a faulty switch; merely turning the switch to "on" did not solve the problem. In our spiritual lives though, I wonder if that (needing to flip the switch) isn't the source of the problem. God's strength to work in and through us is there, but perhaps we need to check the switch occasionally to see if it is turned on.