Proverbs 11:24-25

24 Give freely and become more wealthy; be stingy and lose everything. 25 The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.

Here in the text there is a paradox, those who open up their hand and let go end up with more than those who hold on tightly. It seems to me that God is telling us that we are not in control of what we have but we are in control of what we give, we determine the measure. One would think that the best way to accumulate would be to build a dam to hold it all back, not let it out. Why does that approach cause the opposite, why does the lake seem to dry up when we stop the outflow, and what are the real effects of having no outflow? Something that has helped me think through and try to understand this process has been to look at other places in God’s created world where there is no out flow and what impact that has as a result.

Let’s look at bodies of water that have no outflow, closed drainage basins that retain water yet allow no outflow to other external bodies of water, such as rivers or oceans. These closed bodies of water which are called an endorheic basin are also interestingly also referred to as terminal basins. Even though these bodies of water are damned up and do not loose water due to outflow there are still several other ways they start to dry up. The greatest loss of water comes through evaporation and seepage. Minerals leached from the surrounding rocks are deposited in the basin, and left behind when the water evaporates leaving high concentrations of minerals. There are also other inflow erosion products including pollution which comes in and because there is no outflow they can’t leave.  Over time evaporation and input of erosion products can cause the endorheic lake to become relatively saline often turning it into a “salt lake” sometimes with far greater concentrations of salt than the sea. As a result these bodies of water can become devoid of life, the most famous aptly named the Dead Sea, which is over 8 times saltier than the ocean. Because there is no outflow it is easier for these bodies of water to become stagnant at times, turning into marshes that can become the breeding ground for mosquitoes and bacteria.  Endorheic bodies of water can at times have great increases in the amount of water in them because when there is a high inflow they rise quickly because they have no outflow. Over time what we find is that many of them are actually shrinking, they are terminal, eventually ending in dusty salt flats, empty and void of life.

Life is a series of choices and actions. We need an evaluation system to determine, am I going the way I want to go? For me the bible becomes that evaluation system that helps me to answer the question what is the value of what I determine is significance and importance? Is generosity one of my values? Am I living a generous life? Or is my life one where water flows in but little to nothing flows out?

If you go back to the Bible you discover that in Acts, the community around the church recognized the believers as followers of Christ by their generosity because it stood in such stark contrast to the society that they lived in! They marveled at the generosity of the church because the New Testament church had a culture of generosity. Have we lost this culture?  Generosity goes against our human nature because our human nature is primarily concerned with self-preservation and its nature is to hold onto. Generosity by its very nature wants to give, so we have a conflict, a clashing of two natures, one that wants to give the other to hold on to. A while back there was a new reality TV show that aired called hoarders, it may have been a new show but it’s not a new problem. If you have ever watched the show you may have shaken your heads in disbelief, unable to imagine living like that. However, the truth is, we are all hoarders by nature. Our world teaches us to get all we can, keep all we can and the one who dies with the most toys wins. God on the other hand says this tight fisted approach to life causes us to lose everything and His Word will always fly in the face of my flesh because I was born selfish.

What does a life of outflow look like? According to the bible, refreshed. Do we want refreshed lives? Is that the life we are living? In this refreshing life God talks about giving freely to refresh others. Is this the water boy approach to life?  What is the purpose of the water boy, isn’t it simply to refresh the thirsty? Because those in the game will become tired, thirsty and dry, the water boy has one goal, simply to encourage his team by refreshing them so they can stay in the game.

So how do water boys refresh others?

• They are intentional

They see this as their job and they take it seriously even if others don’t take them seriously. They are prepared; before the game ever starts they are preparing the water, ice and cups, in order to be ready. They prepare because they know that those on the team will need to be refreshed, it’s not if, it’s when. They are paying attention for opportunities and they take advantage of those times when they can run in and hydrate others. Am I intentional in my refreshing?

• They Provide what is needed to refresh

As we have increased in our understanding of what the human body goes through during excessive physical exertion we have changed what is given to refresh. Along with water we have added drinks that include electrolytes and other needed nutrient. Do I give what is needed or what I want to give?

• They pay attention to others

Being a water boy is not a glamorous position, often they serve in obscurity, when was the last time any sports hero gave the water boy a shout out? They don’t do it for the attention, their focus is others and they are generous with the refreshments. They give based not on how they feel but on what others need because they see others as part of the team.

Am I a water boy willing to be there to refresh others with an outflow of what they need? Practically what is that outflow, that Gatorade bottle that others need.

• A listening ear

James 1:9 “let every man be swift to hear”

• Affection

Romans 12:10 “Love each other with genuine affection and take delight in honoring each other” Hugs are a one size fits all!

• Kindness

Philemon 1:7 “Your love has given me much joy and comfort, my brother, for your kindness has often refreshed the hearts of God’s people”

• Laughter

Proverbs 17:22  “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength”

• Encouragement

Ephesians 4:29 “Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them”

• A Smile

Genesis 33:10 “what a relief to see your friendly smile. It is like seeing the face of God”

• Prayer

Romans 1:9 “God knows how often I pray for you. Day and night I bring you and your needs in prayer to God”

When you think about it technically it’s not hard to be a water boy, I mean it’s not complicated, you just have to decide, do you want to serve the team? What kind of life are you living, is it refreshing?

Matthew 20:29-34

29 As Jesus and the disciples left the town of Jericho, a large crowd followed behind. 30 Two blind men were sitting beside the road. When they heard that Jesus was coming that way, they began shouting, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” 31 “Be quiet!” the crowd yelled at them. But they only shouted louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” 32 When Jesus heard them, he stopped and called, “What do you want me to do for you?” 33 “Lord,” they said, “we want to see!” 34 Jesus felt sorry for them and touched their eyes. Instantly they could see! Then they followed him.

Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem to be crucified when He met two blind beggars. It is important to remember that He had just finished talking to His disciples about servant hood, because two of them wanted prominent positions of power in His kingdom. The other disciples responded with anger and jealousy at James and John’s blatant grab for power and prominence. All of them had the wrong understanding of leadership, one in which the world measures leadership by how many people serve us. As they journey on together it is not long before the opportunity to serve others is placed before them. I love the contrast between these two moments, two beggars that plead only for mercy in contrast with two disciples that demand privileges. We would do well to observe that Jesus turns down the two disciples but he grants the request of the two beggars. The beggars’ condition is one of blindness, disability, desperation, pleading and need. They are rebuked by a crowd that tries to hush their cries for mercy. There is a sharp contrast between the attitude and actions of the crowd and Jesus. One wants to quiet the other to listen. When it comes to serving which camp am I in, the crowd or Jesus? What has to change for me to have a servant’s heart?

• Stop

Scripture says that Jesus stopped. He slowed down even though He was on his way to Jerusalem, he had a full and final week in front of Him. Jesus was a busy man with many demands made on Him, yet He still stopped. If I am going to serve it will requires that I slow down and even stop. Could it be that the great enemy of our spiritual life and service to God is hurry? He had a lot to do but he was not hurried, we don’t find Him running to keep an appointment. When it came to time Jesus always took the time to stay connected to His Father. I believe that that is why He always had time to love people in the midst of a busy schedule. As people, we will buy anything if it helps us save time, yet it is ironic that when we get hurried and feel we need to eliminate something from our life, the place we often start is our service to God. Is that really what we need to cut to slow our pace of life? There is a definite difference in the reactions of the crowd and Jesus. The crowd wanted to continue uninterrupted, motivated out of self-centeredness. Jesus stopped and regarded others as important, worthy of His time, the motivation, selflessness. Do you have time to serve God? What about other people?

• Open your eyes to see a bigger picture.

Why did Jesus put His own plans on hold when others were unwilling to do so? Because Jesus was willing to modeled the practice of putting others first even of it inconvenienced Him and His own crowd of followers.

Philippians 2:3-5

“Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.  Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had”

Blindness was common in ancient times and many of the blind did not have family that could or would take care of them. They’d station themselves on the outskirts of a city where travelers would be coming and going, because travelers would have something they needed, money. The question we need to ask is, who is sitting in the path that we travel? Do we see them or are we the ones that are blind? What is the source of your blindness is it business or a failure to see the big picture, a limited view of why you are here? Is it possible that the greatest danger is that we will become so distracted and rushed and preoccupied that we will skim through this life and never really live it?  Who was really blind that day? Physically the beggars were, but what about the crowd who failed to see what Jesus saw?

• Be compassionate

Compassion is an attitude towards a need that compels us to take action to meet that need; Jesus heals the two blind beggars. A truly compassionate heart finds it impossible to remain neutral when it sees a need. This story is a reminder that the first message we have to deliver to this lost world is simply this, “God cares.” So often this message is communicated loudest through acts of kindness verses speeches of words. Are you compassionate, do you take action to meet the need?

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• Touch the need

Touch is all around us in this world, the handshake, the pat on the back, the hug, holding hands, touch often communicates when the tongue cannot. Jesus could have just spoken, but He chose to touch them, to physically touch the need. After Jesus reaches out and touches them their need is met and their reaction is simply to follow Him, the one they can now see. When Jesus touched my life spiritually and I could see, I had the same response, simply to follow Him. If Jesus has touched your life, what will you do with your sight, what will you focus on? Can you see Jesus, will you follow Him or the crowd. What will you do with your sight; will you see others as Jesus did?