REFRESHING MESSENGERS

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Like a snow-cooled drink at harvest time is a trustworthy messenger to the one who sends him; he refreshes the spirit of his master. Like clouds and wind without rain is one who boasts of gifts never given.

Proverbs 25:13-14        

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

When you communicate with others, how are you perceived? Do people see you as someone who speaks words of wisdom or encouragement or loving kindness? Or are you viewed as someone who spews negativity or gossip or profanity or hatred?

The truth of the matter is that we are all messengers in one way or another. We all send a certain message by the way we converse with others whether verbally or non-verbally and we would be well served to step back and think about the messages we are sending.

So what does the word of the Lord have to say about how we’re to communicate?

Look at this proverb from the 25th Chapter of the Book of Proverbs:

Like a snow-cooled drink at harvest time is a trustworthy messenger to the one who sends him; he refreshes the spirit of his master. Like clouds and wind without rain is one who boasts of gifts never given. Proverbs 25:13-14

If you’ve ever been outside working hard in warm weather, you know you can work up quite a sweat as well as quite a thirst. There’s nothing quite satisfying when you’re in the midst of such exertion as a nice cool drink of water, water that replenishes and refreshes us, allowing us to continue the work that we’re doing.

Using this kind of example, and I think we’ve all possibly been in that situation in our life, we look at the words of Solomon as he shared wise words placed on his heart by God.

For one who is a trustworthy messenger refreshes the one who sends him just as that cool drink refreshes the laborer in the midst of his or her work. Conversely, the person who communicates sinfulness in his or her words, boasting of things falsely, does not refresh but rather speaks words of worthlessness like clouds and wind without the rain that the living things of the earth need to sustain life.

Now, you may ask yourself, where is this going and what is God’s word saying to me this morning? How in the world does this apply to the way I communicate and live my life?

Well, the key here is that we all have a Master and His name is Jesus. He reigns and rules over all mankind, given that authority by God the Father.

Our Master, Jesus, gave us a task before He left this earth and ascended to sit at the right hand of God in His place of authority, a task we are required to include in our daily work. Here’s the assignment:

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20

Go, make, baptize, and teach. All words that call us to action. There is no option here. Our Savior Jesus ordered His followers to carry on His work here on earth after He departed and that work is to carry on until He returns. And so we all have been commissioned to be messengers sent by the Master to deliver the good news of salvation that He brings to whoever places their belief, hope, and trust in Him (John 3:16), the sweetest, most refreshing message we could ever share with anyone . Those who take this obligation seriously and carry it out enliven the spirit of the Master, pleasing and blessing Him with obedient response to His great commission.  

The task sounds challenging and indeed it is. The harvest field we are sent to go out and labor in is full of people who have not heard the saving good news of Jesus, the number far exceeding the qualified messengers who they need to hear the good news from. Jesus said so Himself (Matthew 9:37) and sadly, the situation hasn’t improved much in the present day. There are far more people in the world than in Jesus’ time and still no where enough Christians to carry out His call.

This could discourage us if we let it I guess but know that Jesus wouldn’t give us a task that He wasn’t fully ready to help us with. For the greatest Messenger of all time, a Messenger who always spoke words of refreshment, left us with just that as He finished giving us His assignment. Look again at the finishing words from Matthew 28:

“And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

“Surely I am with you.”

No matter where we go as we share the message of salvation through Christ Jesus, He is with us. He is with us to give us strength. He is with us to give us courage. He is with us to give us the right and righteous words to speak to others. In other words, He will always provide everything we need to carry out His work here on earth as we seek to further His kingdom.

All we need to do is offer ourselves to Him as living sacrifices, willing to do and say whatever He wants us to. When we do, our actions and words will not only refresh those we communicate with but they will refresh the One who led us to behave the way we do.

Are you a refreshing messenger?

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

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