Pop The Top!

When was the last time you popped open a can of soda (or pop depending where you live!) and it sprayed out all over you?  Since I don’t purchase canned drinks too often, I can’t recall the last time it happened to me, but I have had a few recent experiences when I unscrewed the cap off a 2 liter bottle of Pepsi and had the joy of a surprise shower!  This unexpected event can be both maddening and funny at the same time… especially when you see it happen to someone else!  (Okay… be honest… Have you ever purposely shaken up a can of soda and gave it to an unknowing accomplice?) 

I got the impression while reading from John chapter four this morning, that Jesus fully supported this type of activity… although He wasn’t talking about forcefully releasing a carbonated beverage, but popping the top off the spring of living water that resides in us!  In speaking with the Samaritan women at the well, Jesus stated that “Those who drink the water that I will give them will never become thirsty again.  In fact, the water that I will give them will become in them a spring that gushes up to eternal life.” (John 4:14 God’s Word ©)  The Jamieson, Fausset and Brown Commentary explains this as “making the soul not a cistern, for holding water poured into it from without, but a fountain, springing, gushing, bubbling up and flowing forth within us, ever fresh, ever living.”

That description vividly reminds me of one time a few years back when I opened up a bottle of Diet Coke and it literally exploded all over me, soaking my t-shirt and sending our kids into a laughing frenzy while I stood there in the kitchen with a stunned look on my face!  That memory was a complete surprise to me, not at all like the planned spraying of the crowd in the winner’s circle at the conclusion of a NASCAR auto race.  Those events are pre-planned and done so as to celebrate a victory while increasing the joy and enthusiasm of the assembled crowd.

I think that is more specifically what Jesus had in mind when He spoke of the fountain of living water springing up within us.  It is not to be just a one-time event that occurs when we are saved, but a process that we can repeatedly experience as we shake up, stir up and pop open that well within us!  It is a process that we can experience at just about any time.  It can happen at a church service, bible study or during a group prayer session or even and sometimes the best time… when you’re alone in the quietness of your home!

I have been in many church services where the top exploded off the well in those seated in the congregation from the moment the first note was played or the first word from the Pastor came forth.  I’ve been at others when it took a while to shake or stir it up before the gushing came forth.  I’ve also had that same experience when I have been alone and have pursued a deeper experience with the Lord.  Many times I have had to force the issue in order to change the atmosphere in me or in our home… just like the other night…

I was preparing dinner, was tired and found that ever thing seemed to be going wrong.  Ever had a night like that?  I found myself dropping things, spilling liquids, and absent mindedly grabbing and mixing the wrong ingredients.  Then I heard a strange noise behind me and turned just in time to see my wife sliding out of her transport chair into a sitting position on the floor.  Well, that was it!  Although she was perfectly fine, and it actually was a little funny, it still shook me for a moment and I decided right then and there that I had yielded enough to that negativity that was trying to invade my home.

My wife was sort of wedged between her chair and a kitchen cabinet and was sitting there with a silly smirk on her face while my helpful dog pushed her way into the scene and was furiously “assisting” by licking my wife’s face!  Because of the tight quarters I had a difficult time getting my arms into a safe position to lift her back into the chair.  So, I pushed aside the mounting frustration and began to laugh and praise the Lord.  Then I was finally able to get my hand between her and the chair and gently place her back in her seat.

From there I caught my breath and whole heartedly began to worship Him.  Well, it took a few minutes but the atmosphere definitely began to change as the well within me started to erupt into a fountain of His glory and grace… right there in the kitchen as I finished preparing dinner!   It actually ended up being a great night.  But it could have easily ended up very differently had I not chosen to take the initiative and stir things up and then pop the top of the well within.

The Message Bible paraphrases John 4:23 by saying “It’s who you are and the way you live that count before God.  Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth.  That’s the kind of people the father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship.”  Our loving heavenly Father just wants you and me to be real before Him.  It doesn’t matter to Him where we are when we come to Him.  He just likes to see us boldly and honestly stirring up the fountain of His Spirit that He has placed in us.  It is another one of those basic tools that He had given to us in order to live victoriously in this world.

So grab that bottle or can of living water within you and shake it up!  Then pop the top and enjoy the celebration of your victory in Christ!  Have a good day.  Stay in tune to His Word and keep asking yourself… “What am I expecting today?”