Read: Genesis 31:17-32:12, Matthew 10:24-11:6, Psalm 13:1-6, Proverbs 3:16-18

What I tell you now in the darkness, shout abroad when daybreak comes. What I whisper in your ear, shout from the housetops for all to hear!
(Matthew 10:27)

Relate: Somewhere near the Golan Heights, a river starts. This is an incredibly fertile river that flows southward until it empties its waters into Lake Gennesaret. The water from this lake is the primary source of drinking water for two different nations. It has also been a significant source for a thriving fishing industry for more than two thousand years. The waters of this lake are the source of life probably to a greater degree than any other lake on the planet. On the south side of Lake Gennesaret, the river continues its slow and steady march southward. Today there is still plenty of growth along the riverbanks but it is nowhere near what it once was in the past. roughly two thousand years ago, one historian labeled this river valley the most fertile place in the region. (A region that would today fully span five countries and parts of three others.) At that time, even on the most southern end of this river, they were commercially growing sugarcane, henna, and figs. Then that river, the Jordan, dumps its water into the Dead Sea. These same waters that provide life, fruit, and fish for so many people make up a sea that cannot support any life beyond a few organisms on the microscopic level. 

Why do the waters of the same river provide so much life for one lake and nothing but death for another? That’s easy. Lake Gennesaret (more commonly known to Christians as the Sea of Galilee) gives back what it receives. There is a river flowing in and another flowing out. The Dead Sea only takes and takes and takes. It receives water from the river, but the only way any water leaves that Sea is through evaporation. 

React: Which sea am I? Am I providing life for those around me or do I bring death? The answer to that question falls back in the same way. Do I give what I receive, or am I just a taker? Am I sitting or serving when Sunday service comes around? Do the blessings of God flow through me or just to me? When I was a kid Amy Grant described the problem in a song called Fat Little Baby. Whatever we call it, we need to be giving back what we receive. Or as Jesus told us, what you hear… shout it out.

Respond:

Dear God,
Let me be an outlet for Your glory. Don’t let me simply be a taker. Don’t let me kill the move of God by not passing it on. There are so many that I have an opportunity to influence with what You have given me. Let me spread it. What I have been told in the prayer closet, let me shout from the rooftop. 
Amen

The River Walk is a devotional created by Two Rivers Church. To visit or to watch a message online, please click here. 
To read previous devotionals taken from the January 14th The River Walk devotionals click below:

The Esquiline Gate

Titles