Pastors Ponderings: Dump it all In!

Posted by on Mar 26, 2017 in Pastors Ponderings | 0 comments

Pastor Jim submitted the following thoughts on 3/20/17 regarding our commitment.  Do we trust God enough to follow His instructions to give our all?  Or do we hold back and keep some for ourselves just in case God doesn’t come through?

Greetings Friends:

PLEASE READ: Isaiah 58:11 & 13a…

The LORD will guide you always; He will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame.

You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail…. If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on My holy day.

There is a story about man whose car had broken down somewhere in the desert. This man waited and waited for days but no one came by and there was no help in sight. He was becoming very hungry and was extremely thirsty. He decided to leave his car and walk along the road when he came upon an old farm house. It was obvious that no one lived there. The house had only part of a roof and the doors were hanging sideways. He walked in and sat down to rest.

As he sat there looking around he saw an old hand water pump in one corner of the house. He went over and starting pumping as hard as he could. All he got was a lot of squeaking and nothing but dust coming out of it. Almost to the point of despair the man was about to walk away when he saw a bottle with a note attached to it. The note read, “Use this water to prime the pump. Trust me, this well has never run dry. Signed, “Desert Pete”.

The man was faced with a decision. Should he drink the water in the bottle to quench his raging thirst and possibly live another day or so, or should he take the more risky option and do as the note instructed? He decided he would do as the note instructed, but used only part of the water on the pump. So he pours in some of the water and begins to pump. Despite all of his best efforts all he got was more squeaking from the pump and not one drop of water! Once again, he was faced with a choice. Should he risk the rest of the water, trusting the written instructions, or should he satisfy his immediate need and drink it?

The man thought and thought. Finally, he decided that someone with a name like “Desert Pete” must know what he’s talking about so he poured in the rest of the water from the bottle into the pump. He began pumping again and soon there was all the water he could drink. He was refreshed. He followed the instructions and generously gave all the water, and as a result his life was saved and he received more than he could have imagined.  


Friends, as we are half way through this holy season of Lent, let us pause to consider, what would you or I have done in that story above: Drink the water, or followed the written instructions? What a parable for life, isn’t it? What a parable for what it means to be a true disciple of Jesus Christ. What a parable it is for spiritual growth.

When we generously give our “all” to God, when we follow God’s “instructions,” we are blessed beyond measure. What if the man did not give it all? What if he did not follow the instructions but decided to hold back, to do things his way? Where would he have ended up?

Jesus said (in John 7:37-38)…

“If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.

Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within them.”

Shalom,

Pastor Jim

 

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