...my cup overflows... King David, written in Psalm 23
...the water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life... Jesus in John chapter 4
Near where I live, there used to be a natural spring that you could see from the road. In fact, that spring was literally within about 30 feet of the road. It was a natural spring, which means that it couldn't be capped. Every day when my wife and I would drive by it, we'd see it bubbling out. At one point, the property owners had even put a hose on it, and had it spraying over this tree. I have to say, it looked pretty cool in the winter when the water would freeze up all around the tree.
The thing with that spring is that you could never stop the water from flowing out of it. If you were to dig a pool around it, the pool would fill up, and then would overflow. The water from the pool would spill over all around the pool. Anything near that pool would be touched or drenched by the water from that living spring.
I picture God's grace in a very similar kind of way. King David noted that God would fill his cup so full that it would overflow, even in the presence of his enemies. In the other saying above, Jesus spoke to a woman by a well, telling her that He would give water that would spring up inside and lead to eternal life. In both of those instances, we are hearing, in some form or fashion, about God's grace.
We may have a tendency to think about God's grace simply filling up our cups. We recognize that God does great things for us, and that these cover us completely. God's forgiveness covers our sins. God's compassion and healing covers our wounds. And yet, it seems that there is even more to God and His grace.
Just imagine that you are His cup which is overflowing with grace. Just like that natural spring I described earlier, you are leaking grace everywhere you go. That's the kind of picture that God seems to paint of us, His people. Our cups overflow with His grace, and that grace then spills out from us to everyone that we encounter. We are, in a sense, God's fountain of grace to others.
I think that's a rather neat picture, and something that I need to constantly keep in mind as I encounter others. There is never a time in my life where God's grace will not be overflowing into my life, which means that there is never a time where I cannot share that same grace with others around me. My hope and prayer is that I remember that daily, and that I go forth as God's cup of overflowing grace toward others.
...the water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life... Jesus in John chapter 4
Near where I live, there used to be a natural spring that you could see from the road. In fact, that spring was literally within about 30 feet of the road. It was a natural spring, which means that it couldn't be capped. Every day when my wife and I would drive by it, we'd see it bubbling out. At one point, the property owners had even put a hose on it, and had it spraying over this tree. I have to say, it looked pretty cool in the winter when the water would freeze up all around the tree.
The thing with that spring is that you could never stop the water from flowing out of it. If you were to dig a pool around it, the pool would fill up, and then would overflow. The water from the pool would spill over all around the pool. Anything near that pool would be touched or drenched by the water from that living spring.
I picture God's grace in a very similar kind of way. King David noted that God would fill his cup so full that it would overflow, even in the presence of his enemies. In the other saying above, Jesus spoke to a woman by a well, telling her that He would give water that would spring up inside and lead to eternal life. In both of those instances, we are hearing, in some form or fashion, about God's grace.
We may have a tendency to think about God's grace simply filling up our cups. We recognize that God does great things for us, and that these cover us completely. God's forgiveness covers our sins. God's compassion and healing covers our wounds. And yet, it seems that there is even more to God and His grace.
Just imagine that you are His cup which is overflowing with grace. Just like that natural spring I described earlier, you are leaking grace everywhere you go. That's the kind of picture that God seems to paint of us, His people. Our cups overflow with His grace, and that grace then spills out from us to everyone that we encounter. We are, in a sense, God's fountain of grace to others.
I think that's a rather neat picture, and something that I need to constantly keep in mind as I encounter others. There is never a time in my life where God's grace will not be overflowing into my life, which means that there is never a time where I cannot share that same grace with others around me. My hope and prayer is that I remember that daily, and that I go forth as God's cup of overflowing grace toward others.
What a beautiful image. I love this, and couldn't agree more.
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