Wine Poured Out
Posted by: forthrightmag <forthrightmag@...>
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COLUMN: REALITY CHECK
Wine Poured Out
by Stan Mitchell
"For even if I am being poured out like a drink
offering on the sacrifice and service from your faith,
I am glad and rejoice with all of you" (Philippians
2:17).
Ben sank into the chair, completely spent. His wife
Violet lay in repose, finally gone. She had suffered
fifteen years with cerebral palsy and in those years,
Ben had laid down his tools and given himself over to
caring for her every need. It was the act of a devoted
husband who saw, not a deteriorating physical body, but
his beloved bride.
Friends and family marveled at his devotion but for Ben
it was only natural. Of course, it had taken a toll on
him, too. He was no longer a young man and it had been
an effort to lift her and carry her in the last couple
of years, even if she weighed barely ninety pounds.
He would feel sorrow tomorrow. Today, he was simply
exhausted. He had poured himself into the task of
caring for his wife and at this moment there was
nothing left.
Why had he done it? His son and daughter had asked this
question a year before. He explained, "God gave your
mother to me to care for. What if she had married a man
who cared about her less? Besides, that's the way God
pours himself out to care for us."
He had emptied himself, yet the aroma of the wine
remained on the altar where it had fallen, the fine
wine of selflessness and sacrifice.
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