A friend gave me this gumball machine for Christmas; although it wasn’t filled with gumballs, instead it had some of the freshest and most flavorful mixed nuts that I have ever tasted.  It was packed full, and there were so many of them that I thought they would last forever.  They didn’t.  I ate the last almond today, my dispenser is empty.

I was struck with what a metaphor this gumball machine represented of my ministry life.  So many times I have heard this fresh word from God, a mouth-watering mix of the choicest fruit, and my heart has been to live off of that.  Out of love for my King and for His call on my life, I would begin running full speed ahead, drinking richly of the word that He had given, only to suddenly find my reservoir empty.  It had seemed so overfilled at the time that I had received it that I had doubted it would ever run dry, but that is exactly where it would end up.

Through the years -- experience, God and just good old fashioned hunger have taught me the necessity of keeping a close eye on this area of my spiritual life.  I’ve learned the importance of walking close to my Lord in the midst of the battle. This is the primary reason for what many call the disciplines:  prayer, fasting, bible study, fellowship, etc.  These are not to make us more spiritual or more holy and certainly not to impress our fellow church goers, but rather, they are our life lines, the places that we go to re-fill the dispenser.

Like you, I want my life to be a gift, sacrificially given to the service of my King.  May we always remember to keep that life full of the very thing that we are called to dispense: the Life of Christ.

To the King,

David