Sustained or Drained?

I was watching a music advertisement on TV a little while ago when I laid down on the couch to rest a little. Some really memorable songs by some great artists. Some of the artists I saw are dead before their time, and many others are burnt out and virtually shipwrecked in their lives now. I thought about that, and I considered, Why is it that so many of the great singers end up like that? What came to me was this: “Because they are draining, not sustaining.” After that this scripture came to me: “The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.” The word ‘liberal’ comes from the Hebrew word 'ber-aw-kaw,’ and simply means 'blessing.’ When we submit our gifts and talents to the Lord for the blessing of others and for the glory of God, we will “be made fat,” as the scripture says. The word 'fat’ comes from the Hebrew word 'daw-shane,’ and it means 'anoint,’ or 'prosperous.’ So again, when we use our God-given gifts for God’s purposes, which is to bless others and bring glory to Jesus; we will be given more anointing to do the same, and we will be prosperous in the true defining of the word. The same is true of the second half of that scripture. When we 'water’ the gardens of others, so to speak; we will always have our own garden watered by God. That is the meaning of 'sustaining.’ The true 'fast’ of Isaiah 58 tells us the same: “And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon day: And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not” (Isa. 58:10,11). Again I say, THAT is 'sustaining’ my friend. It is a rule that cannot be broken, that God will bless and sustain those who devote themselves to glorifying the unspeakable love that he has and has shown forth graphically to all men through his Son Jesus.

On the other hand, if we use our gifts and talents that the Lord has loaned to us, for our own purposes, we will NOT “be made fat,“ and we will NOT "be watered.” Rather we will be 'draining.’ So many of these immensely talented people have fallen into the entrapment of Satan, of whom the scripture says: “Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness” (Ezek. 28:17). They have been deceived [and so can we be] into using their gifts for their own gain, for money, fame, sex, etc; not understanding that it is all apart from their design and is counter-productive. There is only one possibility in that case, and that is to constantly be draining of life. You simply cannot be upheld in God’s sustaining grace when you are running in the opposite direction of what his will is for you. It’s really a shame, because God’s way is SO MUCH BETTER for us than our way, and there is so much more joy and peace to be had by being a blessing to him and to others with what he has given us. It’s all tried and proven, over and over and over again throughout human history; and somehow so many refuse to learn history’s lesson. The scripture tells it just like it is: “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting” (Gal. 6:7,8). It’s true that it is speaking here of eternal consequence and reward, but it is just as true that what applies to eternity is also true for the journey to get there. The tragic lesson here is that many famous and greatly talented and gifted people die before their time or end up burnt out and shipwrecked simply because they have used God-given gifts to magnify themselves and feed their own appetites, rather than to glorify the Son of God who came to die for us all; and to truly bless [not entertain] the lives of others. You can learn a lot from a TV infomercial. God bless.