Daily Devotional for Monday August 4, 2003
Your spiritual well
( 1 Corinthians 1:9, Psalms 16:8 )
Your spiritual well. This message today is geared to those who are serving God, especially those who are in full-time service to the Lord as a pastor or in some other capacity of God's work. As a servant of God, we serve others from what we have in our own spiritual well. We give to others from the spiritual reservoir we have built up. When that well is empty, we simply have nothing to offer to others.
This is why everyone who has committed their life to Christ has a duty to fellowship with the Lord each and every day. We all have been called into active duty to further the Kingdom of God. Nobody is exempt from the responsibility of being ambassador of Christ. Even more, those who have dedicated their life to serving others through full-time service to God, MUST make that time with Him an essential part of your day.
You see my friend, the fact is we can only give to others what we have to give. We aren't able to give someone $50, if we only have $30. Subsequently, we can't feed someone spiritually, if our spiritual cupboard is bare. That is one reason why we MUST make time each and every day to spend time in God's Word and in prayer. It is in those quiet times alone with our Lord, that we are spiritually fed and able to fill up our spiritual wells. It is from that well that we than go out and feed others.
Where many pastors "burn out," where many who are in full-time service to the Lord lose their focus, where many people who have given their lives to the Lord fall away, is when their spiritual well is empty. On an airplane, the stewardess tells you that if the oxygen mask comes down, put it on yourself first, than small children or those who need help. Why? Because if you can't breathe, you can't help others breathe. It is the same principle here. If your spiritual well is dry, you can't feed yourself, or others.
My word of encouragement to you today is to take seriously the time you spend each day with the Lord. It is your NUMBER ONE priority each day. If it isn't, than you need to re-prioritize! How far will you go in your car if the tank is empty? How can you expect to deal with the day to day trials of daily life, let alone serve others, if your spiritual tank is empty? I love you, and care about you so much. It hurts me to know that many of you are hurting today mainly because you have neglected your daily time with the Lord, and have been living life on empty.
For my bothers and sisters in full-time service to the Lord, let me tell you this. It is impossible, to meet the spiritual needs of others if you don't have anything in your spiritual well to give. The only way to keep that spiritual well full is to spend the time each day with the Lord in prayer and the Word. It may sound over-simplistic, but trust me, this is how you have the spiritual resources not only to live your own life, but to give to others.
I love you and care about you so much. I will be praying for you today to understand this basic truth. All through the Bible we see the spiritual giants had intimate relationships with God. It was the fuel that drove their life, as well as enabled them to serve others. I guarantee you that when you start neglecting that relationship with God, when you quit filling your spiritual tank, you are in trouble.
That is when you are a sitting target for the enemy to attack. You make your bad decisions when you are not praying. You sin when you are spiritually weak. When you are not in that close, intimate, daily relationship with the Lord, you can make mistakes that have life changing consequences. Never forget, the only thing we will take from this life into eternity is our personal relationship with the Lord. THAT is the one thing we know with 100% certainty about our eternal life when this journey here is finished. Knowing that, we should even be more motivated to take the time each day to fellowship with Jesus.
Let me close today by once again encouraging you to make time each day for the Lord. Pray, read the Word, develop that close, intimate daily walk that He desires to have with you. It is from your own personal walk with Christ that you will fill your spiritual well, not only to sustain your own life, but to share with others.
In His love and service, Your friend and brother in Christ, Bill Keller