Filled Up to Pour Out

 

     Many of us know what it feels to overeat, like on Thanksgiving Day.  You have this feeling of discomfort as you loosen the waistband on your pants or give in to the need to change into a stretchier version of yoga pants.  We know what it feels like to be over nourished and in need of a comfortable remedy.  We may even consider taking a nap to sleep our way through the feeling of fullness.  Have you ever felt this way?

     Now allow me to shift your thinking just a bit.  Have you ever felt like you’ve poured into a study of Scriptures so deeply that you were filled to the brim and needed to release a little pressure?  If you answer ‘no,’ you can be counted among most of humanity, but Paul warned Timothy not to be like most men.  If you’re thinking, that’s an odd concept, possibly you’ve never considered how the apostle Paul could pour himself out like a drink offering.  Today as I was studying Paul’s last Epistle, the one he wrote to Timothy, I was intrigued by the fact that this was Paul’s final act of support for his young protégé Timothy who would carry on this ministry.  It was his epilogue.  I could see that Paul knew he had finished the race set before him in his final remarks.  He had given everything he had to Christ.  He was no longer questioning whether he would stay or go, like in the book of Romans. 

     For the past six weeks or so, I, too, have been binging on the Bible.  I’ve been actively pursuing the daily reading plan while at the same time repeating two past Bible studies that have been filled with highly nutritious content.  I am filled to the point of bursting.  God has filled me with a desire for His Word, but it leaves me with the same discomfort as overeating when I'm not sharing it with others.  To be completely honest, I’ve been doing a little overeating too.  I’m hanging out in stretchy pants, reading God’s Word.  To relieve the pressure that has been building, I have concluded that sharing what I’m learning is a vital part of my ministry.

     One of my favorite Bible instructors from GCBI (Grace Commission Bible Institute) is Dr. Randall D. Smith.  In his lecture series called “One Hour, One Book,” he has opened the door to my understanding of Scripture by bringing a cultural perspective, historical context, and an outline to each book of the Bible.  A timeless truth that I uncovered in his lecture on 2 Timothy was, “we need to persuade people with the Word of God because that is the best resource we’ve been given.”  What else may I talk about that would have such value?  Yesterday I was struck by a concept he taught called ‘spiritual obesity.’  He explained that this is taking in the Word of God and not sharing it with others.  In Luke 6:45, we read, ‘from the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.’  The things we speak of shows us the things we are investing our hearts and minds in.  When I observe the apostle Paul in Scripture or Dr. Smith as a Biblical instructor, it is easy to see what they have been invested in.

     So, let me take us back to the concept of Paul pouring himself out as a drink offering.  What exactly is a drink offering?  According to the ‘Got-Questions’ website, a drink offering was first introduced in the book of Genesis.  Jacob offered it when God said, ‘Your name shall be Israel,’ thus the name for God’s chosen people, ‘the Israelites.’  It was part of the sacrificial system brought to the Israelites in the wilderness, and both Jesus and the apostle Paul used the ‘drink offering’ as a metaphor.  As Jesus taught the disciples the sacrament of remembrance through communion, Jesus’ blood was the drink offering poured out for us.  Paul used this metaphorically in Philippians and then a second time in 2 Timothy.  He was the drink offering that was poured out to those around him in ministry.  This emptying in 2 Timothy was his final offering, spiritually speaking.  He never wrote another book.  After supplying Timothy with some last words of encouragement, Paul then wrote his acknowledgments, the same action taken by an author at the completion of his book.  Similar to the credits one reads at the end of a movie.  Here are all the people I would like to thank.  Paul is showing Timothy to remain faithful in ministry; you rely on a team.  It is not a one-person show.  You surround yourself with good people.  We were never meant to walk alone.

     If I were to ask you what you have learned today that helps you share your love of Jesus with others, would you have an answer?  I often ask my family at the end of the day, ‘what is something new that you learned today?’  I am frequently met with blank stares, shrugged shoulders, and life-less responses that tell me that the day didn’t produce one new thing worth repeating.  What if we began each day on a quest.  We open our hearts to look with fresh eyes, and we set our ambitions on learning something new that we could pass along to others?  When I renew my mind with God’s Word, I am amazed at the lessons he teaches me in the most ordinary moments of life.

      During the Thanksgiving holiday, we decided to engage some free time watching a mini-series set in the early 1900s in England.  Two in our family enjoy a good period piece, whereas the other two were satisfied with it being based on a true story.  The truth in the story was loosely held, as we later learned of many embellishments to make the story entertaining.  It worked.  As bad as it sounds, we sat down to watch the first episode, and in about fifteen days, we consumed another thirty-nine episodes.  This led to some valuable discussions about focusing on the wrong thing, leading someone into conflict or consequence.  Some of the characters we loved to hate, while other characters, although incredibly flawed, were difficult not to love.  Rather than considering binge-watching a terrible waste of time, it became a valuable instructor when looking at it through the lens of God’s Word.  Often discussions like this could be construed as judgmental if speaking about people we know who are engaged in dangerous activities.  However, with fictional characters, we could decipher the heart's motivations while observing behaviors.  In real life, we are instructed to never judge motivations because we aren’t privy to this information in our observations.  Unfortunately, that is what we love to judge.    

    Thank you for allowing me to shed a few pounds by sharing what I’ve learned.  I would hate to remain ‘spiritually obese’ because I’m keeping all the good stuff I’m learning in God’s Word to myself.