Not long after I started writing devotions I signed up for a writers conference where several published authors would be. One day during the conference I was able to share a meal with William Paul Young, author of “The Shack.” He gave me a piece of wisdom that still drives me to this day. He told me to quit looking at God as a well, and instead see Him as a river of life. Then he said, “Every day you need to sit at that river with God with an empty bucket. Sit in His presence and ask Him to fill your bucket with fresh water from His Word every day. If you will seek Him out and listen, I promise you He will fill your bucket with fresh water every day.” With that, I began seeking God more diligently and He has continued to fill my bucket.
In Luke 10, Jesus went to the house of Martha, the sister of Lazarus and Mary. As Jesus began to teach, Martha went into the kitchen to begin preparing food for everyone. However, Mary stayed behind and sat at the feet of Jesus listening to every word. As her bucket was being filled up, Martha disrupted what was going on to ask Jesus to make Mary help her. Jesus told Martha she was distracted and concerned about all these other things. Then He said in verse 42, “There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her” (NLT). She had learned to seek Jesus and to allow Him to fill her bucket with living water.
The psalmist understood the power of seeking God’s presence too. In Psalm 105:4 he wrote, “Seek and deeply long for the Lord and His strength [His power, His might]; Seek and deeply long for His face and His presence continually” (AMP). It’s not just a command for us to take time to seek out God’s presence continually, it’s also a necessity. Too many time though, we are like Martha. We’re busy with life, work, serving the Lord and all the other things we have to do. Yet Jesus said Mary had discovered the one thing we should be concerned about. We must all make time to seek Him and sit at His feet. We must deeply long for His presence to the point our day is incomplete without it. When we do, He will meet us and renew us with His fresh water.
Photo by Elise Zimmerman on Unsplash
Devotions by Chris Hendrix 