Jesus provides model to avoid ‘dry well’

Jay Wolf takes his cue for staying well-balanced right from the top.

“Jesus balanced His life with intellectual, physical, spiritual and social pursuits,” said Wolf, pastor of First Baptist Church, Montgomery. “My Scriptural model comes from the description of Christ’s life in Luke 2:52, which tell us that ‘Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature as He increased in favor with God and with man.’”

The constant temptation for pastors is to focus their attention totally on “the bottomless needs of ministry,” Wolf said.

But “God calls us to be balanced disciples who take care of the temple of our body with common-sense maintenance, stoke the fires of our intellect with continual learning, nurture our human relationships with time expenditures and develop an intimate walk with the Lord,” he
said.

Balance, Wolf said, keeps life fresh and prevents burnout.

“It is important to balance work with recreation. It is imperative to balance ministry with family time. It is crucial to balance your work for the Lord with your walk with the Lord,” he said. 

Wolf said he makes it a priority to walk in God’s presence each day, something that gives him refreshed energy, perspective and joy. “People will not long visit a dry well,”
he said. 

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