One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed. Proverbs 11:24-25
Dear Lord Jesus, meditating on this Scripture immediately puts me in the posture of face –up palms-up praise. I cannot read these four words, “he who refreshes others,” without thinking of you. You are the quintessential… archetypical… ever-dispensing Refresher. Your mercies are new every morning and your steadfast love never comes to an end. Great is your faithfulness…
Even in this very moment, you’re calling to us in a loud voice, “If a man is thirsty, let him come and drink!” (John 7:37) Jesus, I join my brothers and sisters in coming to you right now, opening my heart as wide as the gospel enables me. Cause those artesian springs of living water to gush, not dribble! Displace my grumpiness with gladness… my rigidity with rejoicing… my sighs with sightings of your beauty and kingdom.
No one gives more freely than you, Jesus. You will never be charged with unduly withholding any good thing from your people… except in those moments when I temporarily lose my gospel-sanity. You will never come to poverty through hoarding, because you freely chose the ultimate poverty of the cross as a means of demonstrating your over-the-top generosity… making us rich (2 Corinthians 8:9).
So Jesus… as you refresh us in the gospel, may we refresh others. With whom would you have us be unexpectedly and uncharacteristically generous today? In what relationships have we been withholding mercy, forgiveness and love? In what ways has our hoarding grace, money and time robbed the very people you’re calling us to enrich? Who needs a literal cup of cold water and an actual cup of your living water today? Who have you placed within our reach… and even beyond?
Jesus, at any moment in this day when we are tempted to run to some broken cistern for refreshment, rise up under our feet as a geyser of grace, knocking us to our sensibilities yet again. So very Amen, we pray, in your most glorious of names.
