Gift Number Ten — JC's Village

When you get bumped - what sloshes out?

Let me explain what I mean.

Scripture says, “from the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.” This verse appears in a couple of gospels Matthew 12:34, Luke 6:45. They’re both spoken by Jesus. Usually, these passages get explained and taught that what we carry in our heart - even in our heart of hearts - will come out. It’ll come out in a heated moment. In a moment of passion. In that moment when that thing happens at work again, or your kid does that thing - again. It also means that the hobby you really love, or song you relish every time it plays - it will show.

There’s also that verse in the “Shepherd’s Psalm” that says “my cup overflows” Psalm 23:5c. Usually, this seems self-explanatory. The shepherd in the Psalm has made it through the valley of the shadow of death and now God’s spread a feast table out in front of him. Doesn’t it just mean that God’s gracious abundance means that the shepherd’s cup is filled to overflowing with water?

But what if it’s not just about God filling the shepherd’s cup to overflowing? What if it’s also about the abundance of God’s blessings - especially when we show up with an empty cup.

All the gifts we’ve opened so far - are gifts that directly reflect God’s incredible gracious loving abundance towards us. Humor, gratitude, rest, imagination, creativity, … and so much more. What if we can fill our cups - our souls, spirits, minds, hearts, and - really - our whole LIVES with all these gifts so abundantly that when we find ourselves in one of those moments when - as in Matthew 12:34 - from the overflow of our heart our mouth speaks - what spills or sloshes out - is gratitude, graciousness, humor, playfulness - or whatever other good things best reflect God’s wisdom and love at that moment. What if our spiritual hygiene practice can grow so robust that when we find ourselves pressed - what comes out is fragrant olive oil so to speak. Character, and humility, and dependence upon God to keep filling and filling our cup so full that we’re walking, talking, Jesus-reflecting storehouses of His abundant loving generosity. Not that we’re going to be perfect when we are in stressful moments - but rather that we reflect a different spiritual lifestyle, a different spiritual practice, a different habit of coming to Him daily and asking to be filled up. A different commitment to not running around full to the brim of stressed-out social media stuff, depressing news, frustrating fears from feeling that feeling again.

I started following Jesus and pursuing His ways when I was 18. In the beginning, I was all memorizing Bible verses, prayer times, Bible studies, growing through a deep commitment to community - and it changed my life. But sometimes - it felt like these weren’t quite enough. They were great. They were better than everything I’d done before - but they just didn’t quite cover everything. Slowly I started bringing the light-hearted, silly, playful and all the rest of those priceless human experiences into my spiritual practice - and that’s made such a difference. It’s been amazing.

I hope it does for you too.