40 Days of Words
Dr Jim Brown's TruNorth Devotional
40 Days of Words
Day 29 | REFRESHING OTHERS | Proverbs 18:4
40 Days of Words
Day 29 | REFRESHING OTHERS | Proverbs 18:4
REFRESHING OTHERS
Proverbs 18:4
“A person’s words can be life-giving water; words of true wisdom are as refreshing as a bubbling brook.”
Can you remember having been to a sporting event and somewhere in the middle you felt like getting something to munch on or something cool to sip on? You needed some “refreshment” and thus made your way to the hot dog stand or wherever.
Although it’s not always obvious, I’m sure there are people around you today who need some refreshment also. Oh, not a hot dog kind of refreshment, but something that will help them in their current emotional state.
They may not acknowledge it, but people today are worried. They are upset. They are fearful. The Covid scare has not abated; the debate around the efficacy and complete safety of the vaccines is still ongoing; parents are upset that their children are being forced to wear masks to school; prices are rising fast… and on and on. There are plenty of things to be upset about.
I’m not going to debate those topics in this space, but I am saying that Scripture makes it clear that OUR WORDS – that means YOUR words – can be like “life-giving water.” You have the power – just by saying the right things – to be as refreshing to someone who is upset and stressed, as a “bubbling brook” would be to a hot, fatigued hiker if he came upon it in the middle of a long stretch of uphill switchbacks.
Jesus said: “And if you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will surely be rewarded.” (Matthew 10:42)
So, I have an idea: Look more closely at the people you’re around in the next day or two and ask the LORD to show you someone you can refresh with an uplifting word.
PRAYER: LORD, here am I. My eyes can see. My mouth can speak. I can provide words like life-giving water to someone. Give me the wisdom to recognize the ones you would have me refresh. Amen.
Proverbs 18:4
“A person’s words can be life-giving water; words of true wisdom are as refreshing as a bubbling brook.”
Can you remember having been to a sporting event and somewhere in the middle you felt like getting something to munch on or something cool to sip on? You needed some “refreshment” and thus made your way to the hot dog stand or wherever.
Although it’s not always obvious, I’m sure there are people around you today who need some refreshment also. Oh, not a hot dog kind of refreshment, but something that will help them in their current emotional state.
They may not acknowledge it, but people today are worried. They are upset. They are fearful. The Covid scare has not abated; the debate around the efficacy and complete safety of the vaccines is still ongoing; parents are upset that their children are being forced to wear masks to school; prices are rising fast… and on and on. There are plenty of things to be upset about.
I’m not going to debate those topics in this space, but I am saying that Scripture makes it clear that OUR WORDS – that means YOUR words – can be like “life-giving water.” You have the power – just by saying the right things – to be as refreshing to someone who is upset and stressed, as a “bubbling brook” would be to a hot, fatigued hiker if he came upon it in the middle of a long stretch of uphill switchbacks.
Jesus said: “And if you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will surely be rewarded.” (Matthew 10:42)
So, I have an idea: Look more closely at the people you’re around in the next day or two and ask the LORD to show you someone you can refresh with an uplifting word.
PRAYER: LORD, here am I. My eyes can see. My mouth can speak. I can provide words like life-giving water to someone. Give me the wisdom to recognize the ones you would have me refresh. Amen.