“Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
When I read over this passage in John 4, I can’t help but think of the image of a cup. We each have a cup that we fill or we let be filled. Each of our cups is made uniquely. All different shapes, sizes, colors, and patterns. Some have words on them. Others have images and memories displayed. Each one stands in its own ways and experiences. Although, they all have something in common. They were made by a potter. A potter who carefully crafted each one, nothing like the one before it. It was created specifically with certain characteristics and designs.
Each of us have a cup within us. One that was created uniquely for us. Our internal cup is often where we reach for energy and strength, where we determine our truth, how we see the world, and what affects how we go about interacting with others. What we fill our cups with impacts how we approach our day, our week, and ultimately our lives. Our cups are filled with things that capture our attention and that we value and prioritize. How are you filling your cup? Are there patterns and habits forming in how you try to fill your cup?
These are some of the questions that I ask myself when reading over John 4. Jesus speaks to the Samaritan woman with respect and dignity. He speaks truth into her life with love in a gentle, honest way. The well she was drawing from would have been the main source of water. Water that would be used for quenching thirst, for making meals, for cleaning, and for other daily routines. The well water was essential for meeting the needs of the people. Jesus meets this woman where she is with her current habits, patterns, experiences, and thoughts. He doesn’t ask her to hide her past or pretend to be someone she is not. He asks her to come. Jesus asks us to come as we are. He is ready to offer us a source of water that isn’t going to satisfy for the moment but satisfy eternally. A source that will never make us thirst again.
This reality is so crazy to think about. Each day I wake up, I’m ready for some good breakfast or meals that day. I wake up with desires to make memories, meet new people, have deep conversations while also being productive, work hard, and seek to learn something new every day. Some days I do better than others, but overall I let these things fill my cup. I search for these things to bring me energy, strength, and to satisfy. In reality, these things will never be enough. The desires of this world will not be able to bring ultimate joy and peace. There is only one source that stands behind the promise to always satisfy.
On a practical standpoint, this allows me to reflect on what things am I filling my cup with that maybe should change? Am I spending too much time on social media, comparing my daily mundane to everyone else’s highlight reel? Am I seeking to find my joy in checking off every to-do on my list? Am I trying to live this life in my own strength? Am I living a life in the freedom God offers me or settling for something less that the world has to offer?
From another perspective, I sometimes find myself racing through my week with a cup that is practically empty. I’m trying to pour into other’s lives, giving all that I can, when I haven’t spent a sufficient amount of time investing in filling my cup. I believe God wants us to reflect over how we can be good stewards of our time. I can’t help but notice when I wake up, my natural inclinations to do so many other things rather than go to His source of living water. I have to consciously make the decision to spend quiet time with the Lord, to seek His good and His truth, to fill my life with His Spirit and promises, to remind myself who He is and who He has created me to be. He is the one who will fill us and satisfy long-term. When I come to draw from His well of living water, I can’t help but pour and overflow with His truth into the lives of others around me.
Each of us has people around us that God has placed in our paths for a reason. People who are eager to fill their cups and are searching for a source to satisfy their needs. People who need to find the alternative to the other sources offered in this world. God has written each of our stories to be able to relate and pour into different lives. He promises to be with us through it all – the mountain, the valleys, and the mundane. He wants to use all of these areas in being able to plant seeds for His kingdom.
In realizing this truth, we are called to respond and be active participants in the work God is already doing. There is so much to be grateful for, and God is calling us to respond in worship – in Spirit and in truth.
“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
This passage was one of the verses we meditated on this year with Acclamation Dance Ministry at Messiah. We sought to dance as a form of worship – as a means of responding to the truth and the change God has brought in our lives. We sought to dance from a spirit of gratitude and honesty, coming to the Father as we were. Seeking to meet Him in the midst of our brokenness and accept the truth He offers.
I’m praying God uses these words to speak in your life as He has used them to speak into mine. Thank you all for your continued prayers and support during this season of preparation for the World Race! It is so incredible to see how God has provided so much in such a short time. I’m so excited to share that I’m officially 50% fundraised – half way there! That’s incredible – God works in such mysterious ways, and I can’t wait to see how He continues to move! Feel free to reach out to me at [email protected] if you have anything questions, thoughts, or prayers to share. I’d love to share more about this journey God is taking me on. More fundraisers and thoughts to share coming next month.
God bless,
Madison Riley
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