Pitchers and People

poured into, to pour out

In my kitchen, I have this certain cabinet in which I keep my pitchers. I recognized recently that whenever I go in there looking for a pitcher, I invariably choose the same one. I pondered why that is. The one I choose is clear with a lid and is securely assembled. It serves my needs exactly as I desire each time I use it. The one I constantly bypass is blue with an uneven surface texture and the handle is broken off. Obviously the one without a handle will not serve my purposes very well. And yet, although this pitcher has probably been “unsuitable” for five years, I have not thrown it away. I keep thinking that one day I will superglue the handle back on and use it again.

In His faithful manner, the Holy Spirit began to reveal to me similarities between pitchers and people. Like pitchers, God wants to fill His people up and pour Himself out of us. He wants us to be vessels of His very Essence, to pour out His compassion and love upon others. Oh how I constantly desire His filling and long and pray for His presence in me. I wonder, though, if I long nearly as much for the opportunity to pour out what He has poured into me. Do I sometimes struggle with or even resist pouring out? Is my handle firmly affixed, or am I just sitting on the shelf hoarding what’s in me and incapable of, or think I’m not prepared for, pouring? I wonder how often my handle is detached and God must choose a different vessel – one that is prepared and ready to pour, one that has consistently met His needs, time after time.

The good news struck me with my own behavior and attitude towards that broken blue pitcher – God hasn’t thrown us out either. And He knows that our broken handles are fixable with His Superglue. He knows that we are capable of pouring out for Him; after all, that’s what He designed us for. He made us well suitable for His purposes and longs to restore us to wholeness if we let Him. His question for us is, “Are you ready?”

Isaiah 58:10 (Amplified) And if you pour out that with which you sustain your own life for the hungry and satisfy the need of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in darkness, and your obscurity and gloom become like the noonday.

Romans 5:5 (Amplified) …for God's love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit Who has been given to us.

Ephesians 4:2 (The Message) And mark that you do this with humility and discipline--not in fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love.

2 Timothy 2:21 (NKJV) Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.

Dear Father, Help us to remember that we are poured into in order that we may pour out upon the lives of each other. We declare that we are ready to fulfill Your purposes in us. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Barb