Old Faithful Erupts Again….And Again…And Again!
13 Jesus answered, “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.” – John 4:13-14 (NIV)
I think the guy mowing the lawn did it…but my son swears he didn’t! But that’s the only way I can figure the sprinkler head got totally broken off at the riser without someone noticing… someone would have stubbed a toe or tripped dramatically otherwise. But it doesn’t really matter how it happened, the result was the same. When I turned the sprinklers back on after a weekend of rain, I had a geyser in my backyard. Kind of cool, but the geyser kept the other sprinklers from functioning.
From time to time something gets bumped in my life…doesn’t really matter what causes it to happen… the result is the same; a geyser of emotion comes bubbling out. Unfortunately, too often the emotion that comes bubbling out is anger, or jealousy, or bitterness, or even disappointment. I wish that the geyser would consist of peace, love joy, patience, or even gentleness, kindness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). Occasionally one of these is what comes out as a geyser, but not often. Usually the geyser is the ugliness that resides within me. And just like with my lawn irrigation system, when that sprinkler head is knocked off, none of the others work.
The answer of course is to flood my whole emotional irrigation system of my life with the living water of Christ. If my system is flooded with Christ’s living water, then even if a sprinkler head is popped…one of my emotional buttons is pushed… the geyser that erupts will be far more appropriate. But I continue to struggle with that; the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.
So, like with my lawn system, I have to spend time repairing the break. I have to repent for my anger or jealousy or the harboring of feelings of bitterness. I have to flush the system and repair the broken lines that allow the tainted water to infiltrate. Despite many years of being on the journey with Christ, I am still imperfect. But then, so was Paul…and Peter…and even Mother Theresa. We all struggle with our imperfection and from time to time are guided by our broken human nature.
Thankfully, we walk in His grace.
Prayer
Father, I am in constant need of your forgiveness. Only You can flood my life with your Spirit and drive out the corruption of my spirit. Continue to work in my life and make me ever, always more like Jesus. Amen.
