Filling the Water Pots

by Karen Roberts

Most of us are familiar with Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well, recorded in John 4. When she arrived with her water pot, He asked her for a drink. She was shocked that He, a Jewish male, would speak with her. The Jews hated the Samaritans and wouldn’t even walk through their country.  And males who had not been introduced did not start conversations with females.

He told her that if she knew who He was, she would be asking Him for living water. He explained to her that “Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst.” He explained that “the water that I shall give him shall become in him a fountain of water, springing up into everlasting life.”

In John 7:37-38, Jesus said, “If anyone thirst, let him come to Me and drink.  He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his belly will flow rivers of living water.”

I used to think that this simply meant that a person who does not know Jesus has a spiritual thirst inside that can only be quenched by receiving Jesus as their Lord and Savior.  That is true.  But I’ve come to learn and experience that the Lord wants to fill us over and over again with His Holy Spirit.  As we enlarge our love and desire for God, He enlarges the amount of joy, peace, blessings, spiritual gifts, mercy, and His Presence that we experience in our day by day lives.  He quenches the thirst of our desire for Him, but that experience causes us to thirst for even more of Him.

Sometimes during worship the Lord gives me mental pictures which have spiritual meanings.  A couple weeks ago during an evening worship time with our friends at a church that meets in a remodeled barn, I got this mental picture, which unfolded over a period of a few minutes:

I saw a huge, heavy, round water pot made of pottery. It was too heavy for me to lift to take to the well to draw water. Jesus came to my big water pot carrying a water pot that was the size of water pots commonly carried in Bible days. It was much smaller than my big one. He didn’t go to a well to fill it, but it had water in it. He tipped it and poured out water into my big pot. A flow of water from His pot easily filled the big pot. Then I saw other people with pots like mine. Jesus went to all of their pots as well and filled them, without having to refill His own water pot. Then as I looked into my pot, I saw that the water in it was bubbling. As I watched, it bubbled over and overflowed onto the dry thirsty ground that my pot sat on. The other people’s pots did the same. Soon grass and flowers were springing up from that ground. All of this happened quickly. There were no waiting lines. Everyone’s pot got filled right away.

The Lord spoke to me through this that He has a vast supply of living water, and that He is always ready to pour it out on those who come to Him and are thirsty for Him.  The water is not just for us though.  As we allow His Spirit to fill us, we are like the bubbling pots.  God spills out of us to touch the lives of others and to bring fresh spiritual growth into their lives.  He brings life out of what appears to be dead.

I believe that the Lord is eager to fill our empty pots. Maybe we’ve been dry or tired or sick or hurt. Maybe we don’t feel as bubbly as we once did.   Or maybe we are full of joy at how He has been filling us, but we want even more of Him.  Jesus is so wonderful and full of love for us!  He’s inviting us today to come for a refill.

Listen to Him in Revelation 22:17 “And the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.”

Two weeks after receiving this picture from the Lord, I was preparing to speak at a service at our barn church.  The Lord reminded me of the picture He had given me and gave me related things to share.  One of those things was a poem that flowed from Him to me.  When I read it at church, many expressed that it had spoken to them.  So I will share it with you.

Filling the Pots
I came to God to fill my cup.

The One so faithful filled it up.

The next day when I brought my mug,

He said, “Why didn’t you bring a jug?”

Yet my little mug He filled,

And over its sides the water spilled.

Soon a gallon jug I brought.

He said, “Next time bring a water pot.”

The jug He filled up to the brim

With living waters flowing from Him.

When I arrived with my water pot,

I saw that even it was not

Able to contain the flow,

So many pots I placed in a row.

Jesus came with His water jar.

I thought, “That water won’t go far

Enough to fill this many pots.”

Amazed, I saw others bringing lots

Of their own pots to join the line.

They placed them in the row with mine.

The line of pots stretched out of sight,

Off to my left and to my right.

I wondered if He’d have the time

To fill their pots along with mine.

But as He tipped His water jar,

Fountains gushed both near and far.

Amazed I stood with hands upraised!

I drank His water and sang His praise.

You see, dear friend, these waters living,

He just keeps on giving and giving.

So bring your empty pot to Him.

Living Waters He’ll pour in.