Daily Devotional
Be different!
August 25, 2022
On the farm when we were kids, my sisters and I got involved in 4-H projects. One of those projects was raising calves. Oh boy, were they cute. I used to love to pet that silky, curly hair between their ears.
It felt funny to get a nuzzle with a wet muzzle – and their tongues were like warm, wet sandpaper.
Feeding time was a chore – but we sure laughed a lot. My sister had a milk formula which she had to mix and pour into a bucket – a bucket with a big nipple on the bottom for the calf to suck on.
I remember one time when the only bucket I could find had a little hole in the bottom. The calf was bleating and crying for his dinner and there just wasn’t another bucket around.
There was no one to hop into the truck, drive to the feed store, and pick up a new one. I looked into the woeful face of that little calf and decided the only thing I could use was the leaky bucket.
First, I made certain to mix a lot of extra formula. Then I poured the measured amount into the leady feeding bucket.
That little calf went for it and while he kept on drinking, I kept pouring in as much – if not more – formula as I saw dripping out from the bottom. The calf got his dinner…as long as I was certain to pour it in faster than it trickled out.
That memory replayed in my mind recently when I heard a pastor talking about being filled with the Spirit.
He was describing the despondency of so many Christians he counsels. Believers who find themselves filled with the Spirit one day, and emptied out the next. They’re frustrated, and tired of getting drained-and-filled, drained-and-filled.
Those Christians, I reasoned, are simply leaky buckets. Welcome to the club! All of us are leaky buckets, simply because we’re human. And this whole cycle of getting drained and then filled up can be tiring if we try and go it alone.
The answer? It’s simple. Make sure you’ve got somebody (or perhaps a great many somebodies) pouring their love and counsel and prayers into you faster than you find it leaking out.
Fellowship. That’s the solution. Brothers and sisters who will hold you accountable, study with you, sharpen you, and keep you on the straight path. Imperfect, “leaky” Christians who will pray for you as you pray for them.
Oh sure. Your faith will keep leaking; you’ll keep losing the zeal and fervor and excitement as you walk through life. Sorry, but this side of heaven that’s inevitable.
Just make sure you’re part of a fellowship where you’ll be filled up faster than you empty out. You might even find your “leaky” bucket overflowing into some of the empty buckets around you.
That’s what being in the Body is all about.
The Glorious Pursuit
We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up.
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another.
“No man is an island.” Are you convinced of the truth of John Donne’s famous assertion? It’s thoroughly biblical. How many fellow believers can you lean on in times of need?
Even one good Christian friend can make a huge difference. If you find yourself short in the fellowship department, ask God for wisdom to find a few trusted brothers and sisters.
Then take a risk. Trust someone enough to tell them you need their counsel and prayers. You need their fellowship.
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