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Respite For the Weary
The little girl in Christmas Morning has another mystery to unwrap! What will it be?
After dancing to the music box of joy (see previous post: https://www.respitefortheweary.com/post/the-making-of-christmas-morning-the-third-gift), the little girl sits down to open up... a beautiful crytstal goblet. And guess what? This goblet in not empty! Not only that, it is never empty! As a matter of fact, the goblet is full to overflowing! (By the way, Acacia, the illustrator of Christmas Morning, envisioned this picture in her head and then beautifully illustrated it for the book. I'm so thankful for her thoughts because the picture I originally had in my mind was so limited; I simply saw the little girl daintily sipping out of the goblet. But Acacia's picture is so much more accurate! It portrays abundance! This particular illustration ended up speaking into all the other pages of the book, giving Christmas Morning a "Narnia" feel.)
The name of this gift is: the goblet of living water. And as you can surmise, it is symbolic for the water that Jesus gives us through his word and his Spirit.
So often, we as believers choose to go through our days with parched souls. The well of water is always available. This water is pure and refreshing, but we opt out and instead live life on the run. His water revives the soul, but we decide that there's no time to linger in his love. Or maybe, we are drinking, but we choose culture's kool-aid instead; as a result, we are actually more depleted than revived. Until we understand that nothing will quench our thirst like his living water, our souls will remain parched.
Hear Jesus' plea:
“Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:13-14
Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters... Isaiah 55:1
But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. Psalm 1:2-3
As the deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. Psalm 42:1
For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. Isaiah 44:3
How will we answer his plea? Will we take a sip, then another, then another, until we are so filled up that we become an overflowing vessel of his hope and truth to all those around us? This is God's desire for you and me.
Open up the gift of his living word. No need to live with a parched soul when each one of us has been invited by our Savior to drink in his abundance.
O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth, who has displayed your splendor above the heavens! From the mouth of infants and nursing babes you have established strength, because of your adversaries, to make the enemy and the revengeful cease. Psalm 8:1-2
Dear Lord,
Help us to pause, look up, and praise you--the sun, the moon, the stars are a display of your splendor, day and night! Your power is unmistakeable! As we lift your majestic name and trust you with all our heart, we ask you to thwart the plans of the enemy. In Jesus' Name, Amen.