If you are familiar with the geography of Israel, you know that the Sea of Galilee in the north flows south by way of the Jordan River and empties into the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea goes nowhere, nothing flows out of it—that’s why it is called the Dead Sea. We can be like this, too.

Thoughts, feelings, experiences, and God’s Word flow into us every day. We keep them in a large reservoir inside, stored there for our use—and our use only. Someone might ask us, “Why did you do that? Do you know that person?” Do we just shrug and miss our chance to give God the Glory.

As individual Christians and as the church, do we resemble the Dead Sea?

“Every man possesses three characters: that which he exhibits, that which he really has, and that which he believes he has.”

Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr, novelist and journalist (1801–1890)

Let’s go through that quote backwards.

• What do you believe you have?
  What is the hope you hold on to even when everything else is falling apart?
• Is this just a hope or do you actually have it?
  Is it a false hope or do you really know that it is true?
• If you have that hope—that faith—can anyone else see it?
  Is it just for you—bottled up for your consumption only without an outlet—or is it visible?
  Does it affect your day-to-day life and relationships?
  Can others see it, sense it, feel it? How?

Look upward, inward, and outward so that we will:

• Know God
• Know Ourselves
• Show others an image of God through our lives