Empty

When you're on empty, you cannot fill another up.

Consider each person in a classroom holding a pitcher.  The teacher begins to pour and gives each student an equal amount of water.  The first person immediately leaves and wanders in the heat to find several people who are thirsty, then pours out her water to each of them.  The second person leaves and holds on to her water for later.  She walks a bit in the heat and takes a sip here and there.  She is looking for just the right person to share her water with.  The third person drinks half of the water before leaving the room, then goes and and finds someone that needs the other half.

Our first person doesn't make it back to get her pitcher refilled, because she is too thirsty to make the journey back.  The second person doesn't feel the need for a refill, because her pitcher and her thirst are doing fine on their own.  The third person comes back for more, having provided both for her own needs and the needs of others.

Which illustration best shows YOU, and how you relate to the Word of God?

Are you the first person, that fills up "for others" and spreads the Word of God by mouth, but doesn't take any in, and runs weary, not wanting to even return for more?

Are you the second person, that fills up "all for yourself" and goes out and lives happily without feeling the real need to be refilled?

Are you the third person, that fills up herself, then pours out in to those around you, coming back for more so you can continue to do the same?

An empty vessel cannot fill another empty vessel.  So much more so can a person not IN the Word themselves share the Word effectively with others.

This has been Random Thoughts for the Day :)