My little granddaughter has just discovered the wonders of water play. She will spend hours filling buckets, cups and jugs with water to tip this water somewhere else (often where it should not be tipped…) The process of filling and refilling, pouring and emptying, is absolutely fascinating to her. She can spend hours doing this, watching the flow of water, enjoying the feel of the liquid, exploring its properties with concentration and eagerness.
It occurs to me, as I watch her carrying her buckets of water and spilling inadvertently in places which I would prefer to stay dry, that we are much the same when it comes to the living water Jesus gives us. (John 7:37-39) We are filled with His Spirit, but as we carry this precious water, we can spill it before we even reach our destinations, allowing bad habits, wrong attitudes, anxieties and worries to tip out this precious load before we reach those to whom we want to offer water. We need, therefore, to come again to be re-filled, even as she comes confidently again to the water sources to re-fill her buckets. It doesn’t matter how many times we come. We are leaky vessels and need God to fill us with His Spirit each day.
Today we hope to enjoy a Pentecost Party at Houghton Road Centre, Thurnscoe, sharing the joys of the Holy Spirit with families who may not perhaps know the source of living water. May we have water to share, living water which satisfies our thirst and gives us love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, gentleness, patience, faithfulness and self-control, fruit which bring satisfaction too. Come and join us if you can!