There have been many stories and lessons written containing buckets. Jack and Jill taught us to slow down. A Bucket List is the compilation of things you wish to do before you die. However, my favorite lesson will forever be the Sesame Street version of "There's a hole in the bucket." I am never able to get that song out of my head, nor the picture of Eliza's exasperation with Henry acted out in each forceful rocking of her chair. I've learned a lot from that song.
Like Henry, everyone has tried to fill or use a bucket at some time or another. They are physical tools used to complete tasks and they are also easily used to help describe something like emotions or responsibilities. We have all tried at some point in our lives to carry a bucket too full for our arms to lift.
When you first read the above, you probably imagined a bucket of a certain size or color. Maybe it was like Henry's or maybe it was full of sand for making sand castles and came with a pretty yellow shovel in it. Or was it carrying water to fill the cistern or had milk in it with two things rising to the top - scum and cream? Often found in my garden is a pail full of freshly pulled weeds that needs dumping. Or maybe it was the seat you rested on while fixing the tire?
Whatever the use, we all have a picture we see when we think of a bucket. Many times I have used my bucket to describe how full or empty my heart is. My heart is not a bottomless well that continuously supplies me with whatever I need, even if my kids may think that. It is just a bucket, a pail. How it gets filled and with what determines the actions of my every day. Oooo, read that again and think about it.
How do you fill your bucket? By taking time for yourself? Do you spend time in the Word? Is it through physical activity or by spending time outdoors? Each endeavor to refill puts different things into your bucket. If it's good stuff, then it's full of good stuff and will likely spill over in a positive way. If it's something of not-so-great content, then it will more than likely come out that way.
Surely none of this is new so I would like to pose a different perspective for you and your bucket. Let's say you work extremely hard to put only positive and beneficial things into your bucket. For you maybe that's bible study, time with family and friends, worship, hiking, or doing things for others. When it overflows, beautiful and helpful things spill out, right?
Picture it....
.... your bucket, full of the work for God (rocks) and His Holy Spirit running over (water), spilling onto the ground around it. Occasionally, the overflow is too much for the soil to soak in and it creates a puddle. But that bucket is not moving! It is weighted down by all the duties needed to make things happen for God and the water is blessing the surroundings.
You might think this is the perfect scenario. I know I did at first. It sounds solid and like what should happen. But now picture this....
....your bucket is full of only the Holy Spirit and It is running over (water). The duties and hard work for Christ (rocks) are still there but they are surrounding the base of the bucket, outside of it. Their importance is secondary. They steady the bucket but do not take away from the volume of water still allowed to overflow.
The rocks also provide an additional function. They disperse the water slowly over the soil, making the water much easier to absorb. It is less likely to make a puddle and muddy the waters.
Both scenarios are good but ask yourself this: Who fills the first bucket? And the second? How much depth is there in the first versus the second? If your hands, your actions, are involved in filling the bucket then there is less room for God to fill it. Your depth in the Spirit is decreased by the number of rocks inside and you might get distracted by how you can fill the pail (with your rocks) to help it overflow rather than on allowing God to fill it for you.
If God is the only One who puts anything in the bucket, then the depth is greater and your focus is on Him and what He wants. This fills you with His Spirit and then you have the ability to do His work and steady the pail. That work can help to "lessen the impact" of the overflowing water so that it doesn't drown those trying to absorb it.
Jesus gave a great example of this in the Pharisees. They were always looking for the works, the following of the rules, the minutiae of things but God didn't want them focused on those things as much as He wanted them close to Him.
When we reach for Him first and are full of Him it is so much easier to do the other things. Whereas, trying to do all the little things (works) to reach God would seem overwhelming, like an out of control checklist, not to mention impossible. We could add and add rocks to get the water to overflow but soon we would end up with a bucket full of rocks and no water to share.
Yes, I'm sure there are a few holes in this parable but you get the idea. This past Christmas my heart was so excited by the opportunity to make the experience of church inviting and impactful to my neighbors that I missed the prompt one night to stop and pray for one of them. I was focused on the duties of the time rather than the Spirit. And to top it all off, I ended the holiday with nothing but those duties in my bucket to share with my family. All rocks and no water makes for a pretty dry mom/wife.
Eliza was ever so frustrated with how Henry couldn't focus long enough to solve his problems. Maybe that's where my kids learned to show forgiveness and grace to me because they are allowing me to let the Spirit fill me back up and help me dump the duties and expectations. I am being refocused on the One who fills me rather than on how full I am.
Now if I just had a rocking chair to sit in....
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