Beautiful Rhythm: Fill, Pour, Repeatfeatured

I was inspired to create this painting titled Joyful Feast as a celebration of Easter. It is a reminder of the incredible price Christ paid as he poured out his life on the cross to erase my sins, making me worthy of eternal life with him. As I worked on the pitcher and the cup, I began to think of the cycle, a beautiful three-step rhythm, that God established so that we could thrive spiritually.

Within the model prayer that Jesus taught his disciples is the phrase, “Give us today our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11). This is an acknowledgement that not only do we need God to provide daily for our physical needs, but also our spiritual needs. So, step one of our cycle is filling our cups with God’s nutrition. Jesus addressed this need in Matthew 5:6, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”

The story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10:38-42 gives us insight into what hungering and thirsting for righteousness  looks like:

“As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him.  She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, ‘Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!’” ‘Martha, Martha,’ the Lord answered, ‘you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.’”

Mary was filling her cup by spending time with Jesus and listening intently to his words. We will get to Martha latter!

Scripture has such a treasure trove of wisdom on how to fill our spiritual cups that I only have room to give you a few key insights:

• Study God’s Word – “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” (Psalm 119:105).
• Pray – “…pray continually…” (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
• Listen to God – “Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live” (Isaiah 55:2-3).
• Participate in Christian community – “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another” (Hebrews 10:24-25).

Now God doesn’t want us to tip-toe around carefully preserving the contents of our full cups, he wants us to move on to step two: joyously pouring ourselves out in service to him and others.  We become pitchers!  Jesus gave us many examples of  pouring ourselves out. Here is a small sampling:

• “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…” (Matthew 5:44).
• “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you” (Matthew 6:14).
• “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13).

I think Martha may have skipped the filling part of the cycle and tried to serve Jesus with an empty spiritual pitcher. I too find it easy to mess up this divine formula. I try to serve God on my own strength and don’t take the time to let Jesus fill my cup. Other times I have trouble pouring out what God has put in my cup. I cling to the wonderful blessings of a full cup and don’t let them pour out of me into a hurting world. I’m reluctant to become a pitcher.

In 2 Corinthians 9:12-13, the apostle Paul describes the outcome of filling and pouring: “This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else.”

What a wonderful outcome! That is why the final step of God’s cycle is repeat. God wants it to be the continuous rhythm of our lives: fill, pour, repeat. It is a beautiful rhythm, let’s keep it going!