A Different Kind of Bucket

As I was reading about the Samaritan woman at the well in the book of John this morning, I was interested in some notes I had written in the margin during a sermon a year or so ago. Beside 4:28 where it tells about the woman leaving her pail and going into the city to tell the town's folks about the man who had told her everything she had ever done, I had written, "She was now the bucket." You see, she left behind what was designed to carry well-water because she was now the carrier of Living Water. The water that would quench her thirst forever was now within her.

As I thought about that whole idea for awhile, I began wondering what kind of a bucket I was.  Was I capable to carrying water or was I like the blue milk bucket that holds flowers on my front porch, decorated nicely on the outside, but completely rusted out and unusable underneath?

I came to the conclusion that I wasn't rusted out and unusable, but I probably had a few leaks here and there that need to be fixed. I want to share the convoluted path my mind took this morning as I processed, "She was now the bucket." All analogies fall apart at some point, but I think many of these ideas hold water.  Please excuse my pun.

• A bucket cannot remain full when it is filled with holes. 
• Water is meant to be poured over the lip of the bucket, not drip out from the bottom or sides. 
• Holes in my bucket would come from pollution which James speaks about in 1:27, "The religion that God finds acceptable is this, to take care of the orphans and the widows and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."  
• Since I am supposed to be prepared to give a reason for the hope within me, my bucket needs to be full of Living Water that can be poured out over my lips to help others find hope.
• Once some water has been shared with another, I need to be refilled by the source of living-water, that well-spring of life, Jesus. 
• Water lost through leaks can be replenished, but the water was not used the way it was intended--to keep me living for and glorifying him, and helping others find that same well of Living Water.
• I want to be so full of Living Water that it splashes all over the place as I go about my business, getting everyone I meet a little damp.
• I don't want to become a spiritual miser who hoards what I do have because I'm afraid there is not enough for even myself, what I do have is slowly diminishing, and I am thirsting for something I am having trouble finding.
• Jesus is not only the Living Water, he is also a healer, mender, and re-newer who can fix the holes in my bucket.
• A new bucket needs to be added to my silly bucket list I created a few posts ago--myself.  This bucket may have a few leaks, but basically is in good repair. A note on my handle reads, "Valuable. Do not toss out."

So there you have my morning thoughts, led by the Spirit who took me to surprising places. The idea of worldly pollution fascinates me. I need to explore it further to more fully understand and be more watchful for it. Here are some forms of pollution that affect me. I am saddened by the world's pollution whenever I try to find a television show or movie to watch, a book to read or even a magazine to scan through. I am saddened by pollution when I overhear conversations filled with profanity, innuendos,  gossip, and vicious or angry words.  I am saddened by... The list is endless.  Just as acid rain and air pollution damage everything they come in contact with--inch by inch, so too, the pollution of the world damages each of us in some way and puts holes in our buckets. 

I don't know about you, but I need to be ever watchful that I am not exposing myself to the corrosive pollution of the world that will slowly put holes in my bucket. I do not want to let that happen because I AM A HOLDER OF LIVING WATER WHO NEVER WANTS TO THIRST AGAIN.