The Art of Pouring
My house starts with coffee. Without it, the world does not begin. (The sad thing is, I’m only being slightly sarcastic…)
Pouring coffee-as any coffee drinker will tell you-- is a special art. If you spill it on yourself, it’s just a hot mess that makes you kinda scream a little bit. (*ahem*)
I’ve been thinking a bit about pouring, and about the way the Bible talks about how when you give, it will be given back to you, only pressed, shaken and mashed together and poured out into your lap.
I’ve also been thinking about how the Holy Spirit is poured out onto his people. How he lavishes his power and many blessings out upon his people.
The art of pouring has many facets, but I want to kind of try and explain it a bit.
Jesus is a river of life. (Revelation 22:1) He has streams of mercy that abound from him. (Exodus 34:6) We are told in John 7:38 that “If anyone believes in me, rivers of living water will flow out from that person’s heart…”
Perhaps because my mind works in mysterious ways, I keep pairing that verse up with two verses.
The first is found in Matthew 15:18 that says “But what people say with their mouths comes from the way they think…”
The second is found in Proverbs 4:23 and says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.”
So it’s kind of like a circle. There’s “the words you say” and that loops around to “The thoughts you think” which loops around to “The treasure in your heart” and then it goes back around again.
They are attached. The rivers of living water that flow out of your heart from believing in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, then that funnels into the way that you think which goes back into the way you speak.
It’s confusing.
My English Teacher once told me that sometimes in life your water got a little spilled. She described it as a teacup and when people bumped up against you sometimes the tea spills out just a little bit.
I also think that you pour into other people sometimes using both words and the way you act.
But like my English Teacher said, sometimes a little bit sloshes out. You get “bumped” and a little bit of liquid spills out.
Depending on what you put in your “teacup” that’s what’s going to spill out of you.
I want what comes out of me to be that stream of living water.
I want to not only be able to pour hope and mercy onto others but also when I’m bumped to have that same effect. The effect of praising and worshiping God through the good and the bad.
The art of pouring isn’t easy. Sometimes I want to pour a lot of foul things out of me-just because it would be easier.
But when you are following Jesus, what is going to pour from you is life. You are going to speak life and act in a way that promotes life.
Jesus came so that we could have life--and life to it’s fullest. Should we not try and be an instrument that is used to pour life out into everything?
“My servants, don’t be afraid. Israel, I chose you. I will pour out water for the thirsty land and make streams flow on dry land. I will pour out my Spirit to you children, and my blessing on you descendants… One person will say, “I belong to the LORD”... Another will sign his name “I am the LORD’s.” ~Isaiah 44:3-5
~Rachel Joy