Refreshing

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

REFESHING

Prov 25:13

13 Like the coolness of snow at harvest time is a trustworthy messenger to those who send him; he refreshes the spirit of his masters.

NIV

This seems to be an analogy of sorts. First it would be a terrible thing for any farmer to have snow at harvest time. The crop would be ruined and all hope of profit that year would be gone. So what this may refer to is what history records for us about the way in which people of that era were able to store the snow of winter in large underground places for use throughout the year, even up to harvest time before the next winter snow. Historians tell us because of the massive amounts of snow stored it kept itself cold. There was also the idea that some would be used to chill the wine in the heat of the day, at least for the rich who had either owned storing places or lived near them. For the common people chilling their wine, to refresh their masters, the historians tells us a wet cloth would be wrapped around the jar of  wine and in the heat due to evaporation, the side effect was coldness on the surface of the jar, thus chilling the wine. This is the picture Solomon is painting for us to compare the refreshment we bring to God, if we are a trustworthy messenger.

2 Cor 2:14-17

14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. 15 For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. 16 To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task? 17 Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God.

NIV

By spreading the fragrance of the knowledge of him, we become the aroma of Christ. In doing so we refresh the Spirit of God.  We spread this fragrance because we are sent by God. Although it may be true each of us has a part in the body of Christ, the body as a whole is still Christ with the mission of being an aroma of God to the world. That is to say no believer should say it is not their part to share the gospel message. All believers are in Christ, and Christ came not to condemn the world, but to save it. If we are trustworthy in being the fragrance of life for others, although it is also true we are the smell of death for others, we refresh our master. Our words, our message is like a cool jar of wine in the heat of the day. It is like a spring of living water for those who are thirsty and manna from heaven, or the bread of life, for those who hunger. We cannot chose who gets to drink or eat, for we must offer these elements to all. Then we will be that trustworthy messenger sent by God to refresh his Spirit.