You can’t give what you don’t have

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “What the world needs now”

Our Bible verse for today: “I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint.” Jeremiah 31:25 (NIV)

Our thought for today: “You can’t give what you don’t have”

Monday is my Sabbath. Sunday is my day of worship with my church family but being the pastor, it is also my busiest work day of the week. It is wonderful but it is also tiring and emotionally draining. By the time the day is done and I am finally home late in the evening, I’m toast – physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually running on empty.

Monday is the second half of the Sabbath for me. On Sunday I experience great worship and then on Monday I rest, renew, heal, and restore. I have a life principle that guides my Monday’s, it is: “Reject that which drains you; embrace that which gives life.” On Monday I have the freedom from God to say “no” to lots of things I would otherwise say “yes” to on other days. I also have the freedom from God to fully embrace those things that feed my soul. That usually begins in the early morning with a couple of hours on the front porch (maybe with a fire in the firepit), and certainly with coffee. It includes extended time sitting quietly before God (Psalm 46:10), along with devotional thoughts, Bible reading, music, and anything else that enhances that time.

The rest of the day might include things like going to the gym, or for a long ride on my mountain bike, or for a hike, or kayaking, or reading a good book, or listening to more music, or … doing absolutely nothing (sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is to take a nap!). Author John Eldredge challenges us to consider “What make your heart refreshed, what makes it come alive? … You need silence and solitude … You need to drink in beauty wherever you can get it … What does your heart need?”

I do this – every Monday, because I need to. I am a Pastor and a caregiver, a person called by God to help others heal and to discover new paths to spiritual growth. But I can’t give what I don’t have. I can’t minister effectively from an empty gas tank. I have to take care of myself first so I am then prepared to minister to others from the fulness of my own relationship with Jesus.

You too. You can’t give what you don’t have. You have to take care of yourself so you can then minister to others out of the fulness of your own relationship with Jesus. Even if your life is so busy (young parents?) that it’s difficult to find extended time for this, you can still be on the lookout for what a friend of mine refers to as “stolen moments.” Fifteen minutes here, ten minutes there – little snippets of time you can grab and spend with the Lord.

Our theme for this month is “What the world needs now.” Well, what the world needs is for you to be fully alive in Christ and to then be sharing His love with others. To do so, you have got to take care of yourself first because – you can’t give what you don’t have.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

(If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals, and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00, in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

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