Have you ever felt “poured out”? Like you have given everything you have to a certain project or person and you have absolutely nothing left? As a former basketball coach, I would ask of my players the same thing that my coaches over the years had required of my teammates and me. Namely, that we leave everything on the court, that we give a total 100% effort to the game, no reservations, and finish the game with nothing left in terms of our effort and energy. That is what makes outstanding teams and wins games. We were indeed “ poured out” at the final buzzer.
If you have felt or are feeling poured out- rejoice and be happy- you are on the right track. The apostle Paul speaks about being poured out as a drink offering in Philippians 2:17 and again in 2 Timothy 4:6. Paul says that he is being poured out as a drink offering and the time for his departure is drawing close. That was one of the Scriptures read at the funeral service last month of a dear Christian brother and friend, Sam Way, and it started me thinking of the whole notion of a person being poured out. In thinking of Sam, it is easy to see how he poured himself out for others. He did not think mostly of himself or his own situations. He poured his energies and efforts into other people, and that is what we, as Christians, must do if we are to follow the example of Jesus. Jesus poured himself out to the point of actually shedding his blood on behalf of the people of His creation. He also poured himself into relationships and others while He walked this earth. He had 12 very close, and many other close disciples that He poured His time, effort, knowledge, experience and very self into, and we never get the idea in Scripture that Jesus brushed people aside in an effort to get to His greater task of saving the world. He invested Himself in others, which is what “pouring out” is all about.
Like Jesus, Sam invested himself in others, with a ready smile, word of encouragement, a big hug, helpful advice, humbleness and service, as well as a challenge, if necessary. People were loved and accepted, while gently challenged to move forward in faith and commitment to the Lord. The “I’m too blessed to be stressed” needs to be my minute-by-minute motto!
Parents can readily identify with pouring themselves into their children’s lives in efforts to be good parents, raise strong, upstanding individuals and provide the best possible physical, emotional and spiritual environment for their children. As followers of Christ, however, we have that same privilege and responsibility to those around us. Following Christ’s example, we pour ourselves out for others, not for our own glory, but for the glory of the Heavenly Father and His Son, and as a testimony of the goodness of God.
This pouring out is not always convenient or a pleasant thing, for that matter. It requires selflessness, time energy, a good attitude, and a determination to “think on these things” as Philippians 4:8 states. If we examine Judges chapter 6, we see that the angel of the Lord came to Gideon and told him the plan for saving Israel from Midian. Gideon was hesitant about this plan, especially the part that the Lord wanted to use him! Oh my goodness! Gideon told the Lord that he wanted to make an offering and bring it back to make sure it is the Lord talking to him. (Some of us are only too familiar with the stall tactics and trying to negotiate with the Lord.) So Gideon prepared the food and drink offering (the broth that the goat was cooked in). Now ladies, think of preparing a fine feast for an honored guest, the meat, the bread, etc. It is all wonderful and the guest tells you to put it on a rock and pour the gravy out all over it! Well, it’s close anyway:
Gideon went in, prepared a young goat, and from an ephah of flour he made bread without yeast. Putting the meat in a basket and its broth in a pot, he brought them out to him under the oak.
The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and unleavened bread, place them on this rock, and pour out the broth” Judges 6:19-20
Many of us would get offended that the Lord would want us to POUR OUT what we just spent all out time and effort on, but that is exactly what he wants. He wants us to pour our energies and efforts out into the lives of others for Him. But we are afraid we won’t have anything left, and we are right, we won’t. That is the position the Lord likes us to be in- poured out for Him, so we can be filled up by Him. In the book of Acts, He says that He pours out His Holy Spirit upon us so that we can, in turn, pour out ourselves through that Spirit into others.
Look back at our Gideon scripture in Judges chapter 6. God tells Gideon to “ go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?” v. 14. When Gideon protests that he has nothing left to give, the Lord answers and says, “I WILL BE WITH YOU!” We will do it together! That is how the Lord works with us also. “Pour yourself out”, the Lord says, and when we argue, “I have nothing left to give,” the Lord assures us that He will fill us with His Spirit, and out of that filling we can pour ourselves into the lives of those around us… only to be filled anew by our Lord.
We may not understand why we are to pour ourselves out to this one or that one…(You want me to pour the broth out?…On the rock?) but the Lord knows far more than we. His ways are perfect and always right, and we just have to trust and obey.
Let us resolve with one another to accept the challenge of being poured out as a drink offering in this world. I would hate to leave the court of life knowing I had not given 100%. Just as the players in a basketball game want to please themselves, the coach and the team by leaving it all on the court, so we can please the Lord and His body, by pouring ourselves out as a drink offering in our lives. Then we will be able to say with Paul:
For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge will award to me on that day- and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. 2 Timothy 4:6.