Then
Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself
and take up his cross and follow me. For
whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my
sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the
whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his
soul? For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his
Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.”
—Matthew 16:24-27
A few miles south of
Jerusalem, the Dead Sea is the lowest place on earth—1,476 feet below sea
level. Six and a half million tons of water flow into it every day from the
Jordan River. But the Dead Sea has no outlet. Everything flows in—nothing flows
out. Because of that, the water has become incredibly salty and absolutely
nothing can live there. Plant life cannot exist. If a fish flows into the Dead
Sea, it dies almost immediately. The whole thing is completely dead.
A lot of Christians
are just like the Dead Sea; stuff flows into them like crazy, but nothing flows
out. The way to grow spiritually is not to pack every study, every sermon, and
every lesson into your skull and store it. You might think you are some great Bible scholar
but more Bible information in your
cranium than anyone around does not make you spiritually strong. You’ve got to
transfer truth to others in order for it to make a difference in your own life
by living your faith out loud. Maybe that’s the reason why many don’t have
a clue what it means to live in the Lord’s strength. They hoard their knowledge
of Christ and salvation rather than sharing it with a neighbor, co-worker, and
family…every nation, tongue and creature. Sound familiar?
How about this: find
someone next week and entrust to them an insight God has shown you. Talk about what you’re learning in your
Christian life over lunch or in a phone call. How about it? Don’t become ‘The
Dead Sea’ of the Word. Jesus taught His disciples and told them to go tell
everyone else what He shared with them. Jesus is alive! The Word is alive! Keep it flowing in and out of you. Be a living witness in the dead world around you.
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