Fill Up!

Have you ever noticed how nothing in this world stays full? Fill up the gas tank and in a few days it’s empty again. Fill up the ice box and it disappears quickly. Fill up the checkbook and by the end of the month it’s gone. Even relationships have moments when hearts are full and everyone is getting along and it seems as if all is right. Then sometimes in a matter of hours something happens; something is said or expectations are not met; tensions rise to the point of argument or hurt feelings and the emotional well runs dry.

I remember as a kid wishing that Christmas would last forever because everything felt so good during those days at Grandma’s house. I usually got great stuff from Santa Claus that got me all excited and Grandma cooked wonderful food that tasted better than anything I had eaten all year! My cousins were there and we played together all day. Everyone looked and acted happy just to be there and be together – life was full! But then we went to bed and somewhere in the middle of the night it all leaked out. In the morning the toys weren’t as intriguing, dispositions were a little grouchy, my cousins were gone and my brother was back to doing all those little things that irritated me.

While I always wondered what had happened, I never once considered that most of the fault might just lie with me and my attitude – surely not?!?

When Jesus was talking to people in John 10, He told them that like a good Shepherd one of the goals He had for His followers was to give them abundant life, or life to its fullest measure. While it is obvious that we need “life” because of the spiritual death that sin brings, the process of keeping it “full” in our lives involves both the work and presence of the Holy Spirit AND our continuing participation in the process.

There is no doubt that the life God gives is full and complete, but we must work to keep from limiting the flow of His “living water” by pessimistic attitudes and actions. When we seek Him daily we stay full in spite of our natural “leaks,” and we can even overflow in our expressions of love and grace to the people around us!

How exciting to be His people,

Pastor David Vanderpool