Pure Refreshment 2.10 -> The Well

14 September 2007

There was originally another topic planned for this edition of Pure Refreshment. It has sat on my desk at home, unfinished, for the last two weeks. You will get to read that edition in due time, but something more important has come up instead that needs to be shared.

A number of months back, I noticed that what was originally planned as a biweekly reflection had became less frequent in nature. I mentioned this at the beginning of one PR edition this year, striving to make a more consistent effort to keep up.

Today's edition comes to you with over a month's delay. Why?

As I agonized over this during the last few weeks, I became more and more stressed. It turns out the answer was obvious to me, yet I didn't want to admit that it was the case.

Simply put, the well had run dry.

Now when I say that, I'm not necessarily referring to a lack of ideas, a lack of time, or even a lack of consistency in the faith I claim in Jesus. However, I think a little bit of each of these has played a role. Yet as much as I could turn this edition into some sort of confessional, I don't want to do that. Because all of us need to take a good look at our own wells and see what's inside.

Life moves fast, as you probably know. Despite this knowledge, many of us try to fill our waking hours with every imaginable activity available. This can trickle down to our children, who can be made to feel like they're on schedules even more hectic than ours. In the midst of meetings, soccer practices, social outings, and perhaps church functions, God can get pushed out of the way. If we let this happen for too long, something changes in our lives.

It's not that God has suddenly moved aside, since he eagerly desires that we spend time getting to know him better and become more like him in our words, deeds, and thoughts. Instead, we've done the moving—and suddenly God's off the throne of our heart. He doesn't like anything less than first place and will try to get our attention to remind us how far we've fallen. The car breakdowns, illnesses, and tight financial situations we sometimes experience may be his way of saying to us, "Hey! Put me back where I belong." Hopefully, we respond as he desires and return to a true life of faith.

Sometimes we do. But sometimes we try other options:

• We give up on God and continue to do things as we see fit.
  This leads (if unchecked) to a reliance on ourselves, with God left outside, looking in. Sadly, some people close their door to him, only opening it in times of sheer desperation, or (even worse) lock it permanently.

• We use our past experiences of lessons from God exclusively.
  Without a consistent focus on God and desire to allow him control of our lives, we can easily rely on our prior knowledge of him and our past faith experiences to help us get by. The question becomes: does this actually work?
  
  It can—for a time.
  
  The easiest way to show what will eventually happen is to consider a well filled with water. The situations of life require that we use a bucket and draw from what God has taught us. If we take time to pray, read the Bible, and listen to God's voice, we'll have fresh water to add to our well. If we keep drawing without replenishing, the water level will drop and will eventually be used up. When this happens, we have to make a decision about who's really in control of our life—us or our Creator.

In my case, the level of water in my well had become drastically low, causing a scarcity of topics to write about (hence the delay in Pure Refreshment). I've learned the hard way that relying on past knowledge of a living God doesn't work too well. Friendships don't work that way; why should we expect anything different with God?

The best part about all of this is that all hope is not lost. We can unlock the door and let God back in. We can sit, take his yoke (see Matthew 11:28-30), and learn from him, finding rest for our weary souls. We can enjoy a life of faith where our Creator walks with us, where every day is an exciting adventure, where our well is full even as we draw from it and use it to encourage, challenge, and invite others to see what a vibrant life with Jesus is all about.

So then, please forgive me for not sharing from what should be in my well but hasn't been. And know that the well will be filled again, with editions of PR coming on a consistent basis (that 'mystery' edition will arrive soon).

Until then, think about the well God has given you. And as you allow him to fill and refresh you today and this week, may you in turn refresh others.

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"Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
--John 4:13 (NIV)

"Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One who is leading."
--Oswald Chambers

Pure Refreshment 2.09 -> No More Black Eyes

This edition of Pure Refreshment will be a little different than normal. I say this because there's something that I've been thinking about for a while that seriously needs to be brought to light—and now.

It involves black eyes.

When one takes a good look at the history of the church since Jesus returned to heaven in Acts 1, there are a few items worth noting. People have come to know Jesus as their Forgiver and Leader in increasingly large numbers. Christians have died for the faith they believe in. And Christians have, to this day, tarnished the faith, whether knowingly or unknowingly, through their words, actions, and attitudes. By doing this, they give their Lord a black eye all can see.

At the heart of understanding these black eyes is the concept of zeal and how to use it effectively in our daily situations.

Sometimes we do the right thing for the right reasons. We, on occasion, do the right thing for the wrong reasons. And there are situations where we think we're doing the right thing, but we're doing the wrong thing and giving Jesus a black eye as a result. All one has to do is open the newspaper or watch CNN to verify this.

I'm not going so far as to say that I'm exempt from being a hindrance to God's kingdom. I know I've said things that have been deemed incorrect, mean, and/or obnoxious (and probably done just as many). But it's high time that Christians get back on the same page in unity and take up the common cause in ways that actively engage those who aren't of the faith–-and not provide them yet another reason to avoid a Savior.

Paul mentioned that he was not ashamed of Jesus because God used his death and return to life to bring his creation closer to him (see Romans 1:16-17). With this, we know that God draws people to him by making himself the best option in lives filled with heartache, brokenness, and despair. In a perfect world, this irresistible force would create a literal heaven on earth.

This is where the concept of zeal comes in. A good definition of the word is "a passion or fervor for something." Used effectively, zeal is both illuminating and contagious. Have you ever been with someone who has been so excited about something that you couldn't help but be excited too? That's the kind of zeal God is looking for—a passion that emanates from the marrow of our bones and produces excitement in the lives of followers of Jesus and those who aren't as well. If that was the case, what do you think would happen?

But when the zeal we exhibit gets improperly focused on a love for money, a lust for power, fighting the wrong battles, or creating a throne from where to pass judgment on others, more people get hurt than one might think. It could reach into the billions. And this is when Jesus gets a black eye—courtesy of us.

This is why not only reading the Bible, but also applying it in honesty and humility, is so critical. James mentioned that to read and not act on what we read is like running into the bathroom, checking out our reflection in the mirror, then running off and forgetting who we are—and whose we are (see James 1:22-24).

So, with that said, let it be known that I am on a mission: to help get rid of the black eyes Jesus has carried for twenty centuries. And I invite you to grab the erasers of love, peace, truth, and hope—and join me. We may not be able to completely get rid of the unsightly marks upon his eyes, but we can help to make his words and truth more palatable to those that need him—even though they may not think so at this time.

How can we do this? We can strive to do all things well in our workplaces, in our homes, around our children, and not allow the world's contributions to look inferior to ours. We can choose to not hang out in exclusively Christian circles, but start engaging a society that largely considers those of the faith irrelevant. We can make sure our words are kind, thoughtful, and not spoken to inflict harm upon another person or group. We can pray, then pray, then pray some more. As a result, people will be changed for the better--including ourselves.

I don't want people saying, "Well spoken!" as a result of this edition. Instead, I want people to make a positive difference for Jesus where they are in whatever ways God desires. I think the time for speaking about what to do has come and gone. It's time to do something and show a zeal the world both needs and reacts to positively. The result can only be left to the imagination.

So then, let's do this thing! And as you help to erase the black around the eyes of Jesus, may God refresh you, that you in turn may refresh others.
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"I have but one passion - it is He, it is He alone." --Count Zinzendorf

One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, " Of all the commandments, which is the most important?"

"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."

--Mark 12:28-31 (NIV)