Full or Empty?
Read Mark 8:1-13
Did you notice the contrast between the two events recorded in our Scripture passage for the day? The multitudes came to Christ hungry and empty, and they went away full; but the Pharisees came asking, and He sent them away empty!
These events illustrate the principles stated in Luke 1:53: “He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away.” Had the Pharisees humbled themselves and admitted their poverty, Christ would have helped them. but they were too proud to bend, too proud to admit a need; and they went away paupers.
God is partial to paupers. Not the lazy and the slothful, of course, but those who know their spiritual needs and admit them. “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 5:3). “He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill,” Hannah sings in 1 Samuel 2:8. Christ would have blessed that church in Laodicea, but the members did not know they had a need. “Thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked” (Rev. 3:17).
Never be ashamed to confess your need to God. If you come empty, you are sure to go away full if you allow Him to have His way.
(Copyright, Warren W. Wiersbe. First appeared in Thoughts for Men on the Move. May not be copied or reproduced without express written permission of the author.)
Dr. Warren Wiersbe (1929-2019) was an internationally known Bible teacher, author, and conference speaker. He graduated in 1953 from Northern Baptist Theological Seminary in Lombard, Illinois. While attending seminary, he was ordained as pastor of Central Baptist Church in 1951 and served until 1957. From September 1957 to 1961, Wiersbe served as Director of The Literature Division for Youth for Christ International. From 1961 to 1971 he pastored Calvary Baptist Church of Covington, Kentucky south of Cincinnati, Ohio. His sermons were broadcast as the “Calvary Hour” on a local Cincinnati radio station. From 1971 to 1978, He served as the pastor of Moody Church in Chicago 1971 to 1978. While at Moody Church he continued in radio ministry. Between August 1979 and March 1982, he wrote bi-weekly for Christianity Today as “Eutychus X”, taught practical theology classes at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois, and wrote the course material and taught a Doctor of Ministry course at Trinity and Dallas Seminary. In 1980 he transitioned to Back to the Bible radio broadcasting network where he worked until 1990. Dr. Wiersbe became Writer in Residence at Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids and Distinguished Professor of Preaching at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary. In his lifetime, Dr. Wiersbe wrote over 170 books—including the popular Be series, which has sold over four million copies. Dr. Wiersbe was awarded the Gold Medallion Lifetime Achievement by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA).
