30 For 30 Challenge: Day 17

The Apostle Paul had an interesting way of seeing the many ways in which he served God and others. Twice in his letters, he referred to himself as a "drink offering", being poured out for the sake of the Gospel. Now, what did Paul mean? And what does it have to do with service? This is the fourth habit to Grow our faith.

First, a drink offering was part of the sacrifices God asked His people to make in the Old Testament. When God's people would burn an animal on the altar as a sacrifice to pay for their sins, they could include a drink offering almost as a gift to God, a sign of fellowship and harmony. Wine would be poured over the embers on the altar and would steam. The idea was that God would smell the aroma and know it was given as a sign of peace and worship.

Paul was saying that he was like the drink offering. His life was being offered as a sacrifice, pleasing to God, a sign of the relational commitment Paul has to His creator.

So what does this have to do with service? Part of growing your faith is giving your time and energy to serve others. It's pouring yourself out in the name of Christ to help others. These other people may be friends or family. They may also be complete strangers. The idea is that you see a need around you and you meet it, even though this almost always comes at a cost. I'm not saying money, but it can be using your time in your already busy schedule to serve.

For today I challenge you to do something simple and yet costly at the same time
I challenge you to Identify one person who has a need you can meet and follow through with meeting this need through an act of service. When you have the desire to grow your faith, you see people in need and you long to meet that need. People with immature faith either don't see needs, or they do but decide that meeting the need would be too costly for them. Which kind of person would you rather be?