|
"I will guard my ways." (Psalm
39:1).
Drip, drip, drip, drip. The
faucet plays a staccato tune.
Turn the water back on and
reposition the handle and wait.
Drip..drip..drip.
A little slower, but still
staying open enough to let water
escape.
Try again. Hold my hand under
the faucet a few seconds; it’s
dry.
At last! Completely shut off! No drip. The handle in my hand did
the trick when I put it in the
right position.
It reminded me of 'life’s
drips.' The handle is in my
hand,
controlled by me. I can choose
to keep trying to stop drips or
carelessly walk away, leaving
the faucet--drip, drip,
dripping.
It seems that some days the drip
is more difficult to shut off
when everything is awry and
Murphy’s Law of 'If anything can
go wrong,
it will' is being enforced. If
we aren’t diligent, frustration
will cause
us to deliberately allow
something to 'drip' out that we
should shut off. Drip-vent;
drip-vent. Look out! That is a
trap, a trick of an enemy
lurking nearby to encourage us
do more than just drip. Soon
we’ll have a full stream flowing
of flesh-produced venom to get
it
off our chest and 'feel better'
by it or a full-blown case of
discouragement. The truth
is--that’s a lie; we won’t feel
better.
When we are quickened by the Holy Spirit to see what is
happening, we will only feel
worse, not relieved. That is,
until we
have repented and securely
closed the faucet to stop the
drip.
We have to position the handle
of the faucet so the valve fits
just
right to stop the flow. Without
proper adjustment, the water
will continue to drip.
Eventually, it will stain the
sink with mineral deposits, not
to mention the increased utility
bill. More frustration.
Spiritual 'drips' can stain our
souls and cost us relationships,
especially with our Heavenly
Father which will affect all
other relationships. It’s
spiritually expensive to have
spiritual leakage.
As long as we allow drippage, we
will avoid close contact with
God because of our guilt. Until
we are ready to forsake our
sins,
we don’t want to be close enough
to Him to feel condemned and
won’t welcome reproof. The
faucet is in our hands. We can
stop
the drip and seek forgiveness and be cleansed of the stains. The price of
spiritual 'drips' that waste our
potential is too steep to
allow them to continue. If we
have allowed the drip to
continue
until the faucet is corroded and
too difficult for us to shut it
off
alone, all we have to do is call
the Master Plumber who will
perform healing maintenance.
"How can a young man [or woman]
cleanse his way? By taking
heed according to Your word.
With my whole heart I have
sought You; Oh, let me not
wander from your commandments"
(Psalm 119:10-11 NKJV).
David allowed a drip to reach
expensive proportions when he
let
his eyes rest upon Uriah’s wife and then his mind and will caused terrible
staining (2 Samuel 11). King
Saul presumed to override
instructions God sent him by the
prophet Samuel and allowed the
drip of pride and greed to
control his actions by sparing
King
Agag and keeping livestock he
had been told to destroy
(1 Samuel 15). Pride and greed are serious drips and lead to disobedience.
We can never rearrange God’s
plans and come up
with a better one than He has for us. That is a presumptuous sin.
Drips are wasteful. Water is
filtered and purified before we
get it
to our faucets. A dripping
faucet lets good water just flow
into the drain and sewage system
with no benefits to us. Our
God-given talents, abilities,
opportunities and resources are
of no use to
anyone until they are contained and utilized by us for the Kingdom
of God. They have been filtered and purified specifically for us by
the sacrifice of Jesus. We have a responsibility to prevent their misuse
or non-use. If we allow them to
just 'drip into the drain,' we
will miss the blessings they
were meant to produce for us and
for others, bringing glory and
honor to God who gave them. Paul
admonished young Timothy, "O
Timothy! Guard what was
committed to your trust." (1
Timothy 6:20 NKJV).
"And whatever you do in word or
deed, do all in the name of the
Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God
the Father through Him." And
whatever you do, do it heartily
as to the Lord and not to men."
(Colossians 3:17, 23 NKJV).
When God calls us to follow and
serve Him, He will not restrict
the flow of the Holy Spirit to a mere drip. The flow is in abundance. Our
hand is on the faucet to open it
to its fullness...to the degree
of our commitment--and blessings
will be forthcoming above our
ability to receive them. One
example is Malachi 3:10-11
relative to giving of our
resources: "’prove Me now in
this,’ says the Lord of Hosts.
‘If I will not open for you the
windows of heaven and pour
out for you such blessing that
there will not be room enough to
receive it. And I will rebuke
the devourer for your sakes, so
that
he will not destroy the fruit of
your ground, nor shall the vine
fail
to bear fruit for you in the
field’ says the Lord of hosts."
When we have stopped the
wasteful drip and drainage of
our
spiritual life, then we can
allow the Lord to POUR out His
blessings to us from His
'faucet.' We must not restrict
the flow by our lack
of commitment but open our
vessels to receive it. "Do not
fear
little flock, for it is your
Father’s good pleasure to give
you
the kingdom." (Luke 12:32 NKJV).
We must stop all drips that
drain and waste our resources
that
are meant for the Kingdom of God
and "Ask, and it will be given
to you; seek and you will find;
knock, and it will be opened to
you.
For everyone who asks receives,
and he who seeks finds, and
to him who knocks it will be
opened." (Matthew 7:7-8 NKJV).
Stop the drips so the flow can
begin.
Delores Adams
Copyrighted. All rights
reserved.
October 14, 2003
Alice's Legacy
Remembering Alice
The
"Handkerchief" has been anointed
and prayed over by several
believers who care about you and
want to help you realize your
full potential in Christ Jesus
Our Lord.
~The
Ten Commandments~
 |
