Perhaps today’s theme could be ‘Poured Out.’

Isaiah 44: 3 ‘For I will pour water on the thirsty land And streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring, And My blessing on your descendants; 4 And they will spring up among the grass Like poplars by streams of water.

At least three instances of the pouring of water showed up for me this week.

I had the joy of sharing in a seder with friends.

There is a pouring out during the God appointed celebration of Passover.

The remembrance of the first Passover is in Exodus 12 .

We pour water over each other’s hands twice during the Seder. It is a ritual rich in symbolism.

The common is separated from the holy through a purification by water.

Anyone who wants to have a seat at the table and partake in the feast must also wash their hands.

It reminded me of the washing of the water of the word.

2 Samuel 23: And David had a craving and said, “Oh that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem which is by the gate!” 16 So the three mighty men forced their way into the camp of the Philistines, and drew water from the well of Bethlehem which was by the gate, and carried it and brought it to David. Yet he would not drink it but poured it out as an offering to the Lord; 17 and he said, “Far be it from me, Lord, that I would do this! Should I drink the blood of the men who went at the risk of their lives?” So, he would not drink it”

I see in David’s action the precious sanctity of life should only be offered to the Lord.

We see it in the extravagant acts of two women. In Luke 7, an unnamed woman pours out perfume as she weeps, drying His feet with her hair. In John 12:3, Mary of Bethany takes a pint of pure nard and pours it on Jesus’ feet.

The house was filled with the fragrance.

The act was an offense to the Pharisees and a waste to Judas.

Jesus pointed out that the person who is forgiven much, loves much.

He received Mary’s anointing like a crown of burial from His Father.

Next, Jesus did something unusual that last night before Passover.

He did something not even the lowest Jewish slave was conscripted to do.

The lowest foreign slave among them would be the one whose job it was to wash feet.

The example He gave us was a humility of service never before demonstrated by a rabbi.

John 13:3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

If Jesus were like the rest of us, He never would have done this.

Because He was fully secure in His origin and His destination, He was free to descend into the most humiliating act of love.

He did not say, “give me all the best things while you can because of what I am about to do!”

No.

He laid the foundation of the upside-down kingdom of God from the beginning to the end, from the lowly manger to a cross.

Lastly, as the Jewish families of Jerusalem performed the ‘Urchatz’ the ritual washing of the hands in the Passover meal Pilate publicly poured the water over his hands.

He hoped the water could cleanse his conscience while he ordered the crucifixion.

Water is only one of the many things ‘poured out’ in the Word.

Blood, oil, incense, and water were all poured out in the holy place.

These were precious, costly sacrifices that represent both the natural daily life and His Presence.

All very costly.

The perfume poured out by both women had a scent that filled the room.

I wonder about the scent of the water David poured out.

Dirt made alive when soaked by the spilling.

The scent of the water used for washing at Passover mixed with the scent of lemon and roast lamb.

Did the water Pilate used to attempt to wash Jesus’ blood off his hands smell like its copper basin?

Our God was the first to pour out.

Then and still.

The bible tells us He pours out rain, a literal and spiritual source of life.

He pours out wrath and fire on disobedience.

He pours out His Spirit on His people.

He pours out knowledge liberally on the earth to anyone who wants it free of charge.

There is a verse that talks about our response to God in the light of all He has poured out.

Psalm 116:12,13

What shall I repay to the Lord For all His benefits to me?

I will lift up the cup of salvation And call upon the name of the Lord”

In other words, what can I do, what can I give to repay Him to bless Him?

What do I have that I have not received from Him?

Nothing.

Receive.

Jeremiah 2:13 for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

Hear the longing?

I do.

He WANTS to be our source of life!

What can I do but put my lips to the cup of blessing.

Can you imagine with me a messy-haired toddler freshly covered in the dirt of play standing on tiptoes. Their whole head swallowed into the fountain; face pressed tightly to the tap.

They do not keep their face at a polite distance as far away from the bubbling water like adults who gingerly touch the tip of lips at the top of the stream.

No, they are all in.

This is what I want to be.

Positioning myself on daily visits to the Fountain of Living Waters.

Face all in.

What follows is a poem I wrote that evokes the stark contrast of normal day to day survival and the invitation td drink from the living waters.

I love Him and need His involvement from the smallest tasks of beginning the day.

A Full Extension

I jackknife out of bed

The cold toes

Hit the floor

Anticipation of the dark elixir

Able to pull me up by my bootstraps.

Substance so thick

as to stand a spoon

Soldiering the day

Desire for internal strength

Temporarily thwarted

Caffeine will have to do.

On this drippy west coast day

I miss you.

Not the walks

But you.

The talks

Connecting

Your friendship a bubbly fountain

Faithful in its warmth and movements

Reminds me of youth and

School hallways

Tippy toed tap turned.

My face all in to find.

That steady trickle

Uncoiled and refreshed

A full extension

Into bliss.

Selah

I invite you to leave behind the broken cisterns.

The things we’ve carved out ourselves that promise much but hold nothing.

There is a Fountain that never runs dry, and He doesn’t ask for a polite, distant sip.

 He asks for your whole heart, messy and thirsty and ‘all in.’

Today, lean at the edge of that steady trickle, fully extended into His grace

I pray you reach with all you have for Him.

Go all in!

He is worth it!

All the love my friends.