What’s in your Bucket?

I typed away on chapter three of my book project, excited to make progress. A few hours later, I stared at the computer screen, asking, “Why am I doing this?”

News of shootings in Chicago and terror in Orlando made me consider better ways to use my time. My writing project seemed trivial and I wanted to quit. “God, give me perspective. Bring me back to my why. It’s a tad lost at the moment.”

He reminded me that hope for our world lies in changing hearts. That’s how I met Jesus. He flowed from the hearts of two men and my life was changed forever. Thanks to a realtor’s persistent invites to church and a preacher’s witty one-liners, I met Him for the first time.

Pastor Mike, a.k.a. Brother Mike, was a converted boilermaker from Pekin and my first pastor. I connected with him right away because our history has these in common: Illinois, bars, and beer.

As he led the congregation in that little Arkansas church, he had a way with words. Twenty-six years later, I still remember:

“What goes down in the well comes up in the bucket.” 

Profound truth, simply put. It helps me understand Matthew 12:34, “Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.”

And I’m reminded of the power of words.

How many compliments do you remember? How many harsh comments or put-downs replay in your mind? We all know words can heal or hurt. They are influenced by the good or bad we allow into our hearts. We have a choice. Will our words help or harm? It depends on what we put in the well.

Wisdom from Proverbs warns us, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”

In one of my favorites passages, Jesus invites us: “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” I want to speak life-giving words.

So, I ask myself: Am I drawing from fresh water? Or am I stagnate in old teachings and attitudes?

When I don’t read my Bible and meditate on its message, my heart gets selfish and shallow, grumpy and cynical. If I disconnect from God and His people, my well becomes contaminated and scum eventually oozes out. And it ain’t pretty. People aren’t meant to be the punch line of our jokes or the target of our put downs.

Don’t we all just want some good news? A drink of fresh water?

We may not keep violence out of the headlines. But, like Brother Mike, whose words changed me, we may turn a heart away from hate and anger and give someone hope.

And that reminds me why I write. My darkness-to-Light story shows what God does in a heart that chooses Living Water. Only Jesus, flowing from us to others, will create world change. One heart at a time.

So, what’s in your bucket? May we experience the change we want to see. Peace for your journey, my friends.

 

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