LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
Not a Vase, But a Channel
God's message is always directed to the heart. The heart is the center of all man's spiritual activity; that is why God addresses Himself there.
Joseph spoke to the heart of his brothers and comforted them, after they were grieved in fear of retaliation from him (Gen. 50:21). Paul spoke to the heart of his hearers; therefore, they were moved and attracted by his word (Acts 16:14). The Lord himself, in his tenderness for his rebellious people, decided to lead them into the wilderness, and there to speak to their hearts (Hos. 2:14).
However, those who speak on behalf of God do not always address their message to the heart; they do not always recognize that man's greatest problem is in his heart, not in his mind. The greatest chasm that the prophet of God has to fill is the heart of man.
Preachers abound who deliver a message for the mind; a message that may well arouse admiration for the gifts exhibited or for the erudition shown, but that does not satisfy the spiritual hunger. They are dry preachers, without the Spirit, who have not quenched their own thirst nor can they quench the thirst of others.
How many pulpits are occupied by men who have filled their heads with biblical information, and who only hope to transfer it to the minds of their hearers. The product of a self-absorbed mind can only occupy a place in the minds of others. Then, those who listen to him will not hear God, nor will they receive comfort from the Word. They will long remain like the deer that bellows, dissatisfied, by the streams of the waters.
How many preachers there are who look for the theme of their message in a book, a newspaper or a preacher's manual. Such things can hardly bring life to the hearers, for the word of God comes from the heart of God.
What will the one who expects to speak from God do? Simply hear what is in the heart of God and then channel it into the heart of man. The preacher is not a vase, nor a well, nor even a vessel. As a prophet he is simply a channel.