"And you shall command the children of Israel that they bring you pure oil of Pressed Olives for the light, to cause the lamp to burn continually." - Exodus 27:20
Consider our lives an Olive Tree. We are planted and expected to grow where God placed us and while in the process of growing, we experience being pruned, branches cut down, drought in one season and rain in another, storms trying to uproot us and testing the very foundation of our lives. After we've overcome all these, we flourish and bud came out. The fruit of our labor starts to manifest. It grows and once matured, plucked and harvested, prepared to be crushed and pressed. Yes, crushed till the last drop of oil are extracted! It was difficult, the process was painful but in the end, we bring about the finest of oil to cause the lamp burn continually.
So whenever we feel pressed on every side - pressure from family, finances, relationships, school, ministry - consider: God is about to bring the purest of oil from us. The lamp to to burn is not only our own lamps, our passion and ministry, rather it's others' lamps. People will look on us and see good things God did into our lives and it will cause others to be encouraged, edified and moved for the greater cause. Our lives will be a value-added factor to others' lives! With this we cannot minimize the impact we can cause to the people around us. Keep the flame burning!
