THE OLD BUCKET

For as he thinketh in his
heart, so is he...
Proverbs 23:7a

Among my sweetest memories are those when I spent time, sometimes even a few days, with my Aunt Dora and Uncle Bob down on their farm. It wasn't a fancy place, but was a warm and very small place where they had raised three children. Where they put them, I have no idea, but it had to be cozy at best. I loved that place more than I can express. The farm itself had many special crooks and crannies from the hen house, and hayloft to the back pasture with the stream that ran through it. When I go through a difficult time, I run to the secret place in my mind to that farm where I can almost feel once again that I can jump in the hayloft or run through the fields with the wind blowing in my very thin hair.

All of those things I expected from a farm, at least as I had read about farms. However, the one thing I found the most unique was the well just outside their back door. When I got big enough, Uncle Bob, after some instruction, would let me go to the well for fresh water to be retrieved with a bucket dropped down into the well by a rope. I had to carefully remove the wooden cover kept on top of the well which was a tough job in itself. I was cautioned that after pulling water up from the well, ALWAYS cover the well back up in order to keep things from the air, including insects from getting into the well and tainting the water in some way.

Aunt Dora was a quiet, sweet and very mild-mannered woman. Uncle Bob, however, was very opinionated and wouldn't hesitate to let you know what he was thinking. That was true the first time I forgot to put the cover back over the well. He was doing all he could to protect their water supply. I guess at a young age, I didn't grasp the importance of protecting the purity of that well, but I certainly realize it's importance now.

When I read the above verse from Proverbs that speaks of the fact as to who and what we are isn't what people see or hear from us on an everyday basis. Solomon spoke in that verse as to the depth of who we are. We are a well of sorts that goes deep. No one will know but the Lord how deep you and I go. I heard someone say something very wise, and I'm sure it's someone famous and much smarter than I am. That person said, “Whatever is down in the well, will come up in the bucket.” Just think about that for a minute. Down deep in the well of who we are is what it is. There's only so much pretense we can display, but eventually who we really are is “going to come up in the bucket.”

Now I fully understand Uncle Bob's concern about the lid on the well. Whatever matter fell into the lid-less well was going to come up in the bucket with good drinking water. How disturbing when folks come to draw from our lives, expecting godly influence that they walk away disappointed with what “comes up in the bucket” of our lives.

One of my favorite Scripture incidents is found in John 4 where Jesus met with the Samaritan woman. This was someone he really shouldn't have been talking to according to the day's culture. We know that Jesus never thought much of human barriers when it came to speaking to the heart of people. In His conversation with her, He offered her and us as well, living water. He said if we drink of the water He offers, we won't thirst again. Then He elaborated by saying:

But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall
give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall
give him shall be in him a well of water springing
up into everlasting life.
John 4:14

How do we keep the deep wells of our lives clean and healthy... by keeping our wells flushed out with that wonderful living water. The lid over our wells is the Holy Spirit. He helps us filter what is and isn't important in our lives. If we allow the filth and bugs of this world drop into our hearts, it's going to be revealed in what comes up in our buckets.

In Matthew 6:21: Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount: “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” What comes up in our buckets? Those things that we treasure will come up and be revealed. The wonderful thing God provides for us is spoken of in Jeremiah 24:7:

And I will give them an heart to know me,
that I am the Lord: and they shall be my
people, and I will be their God: for they
shall return unto me with their whole heart.

So God wants to provide us every way possible to keep our wells clean and pure so that out of the purity of our hearts, love and the other things of God can flow freely. With all of God's provision, there should never be any surprises when the bucket rises from the depths of our wells, revealing what's in our buckets.

One fact we can bank on: Whatever is in the well will come up in the bucket. What condition is the well of my life in right now? Would I want a bucket of sorts to drop into the depths of my life, come up full to the brim with its contents revealed for all to see?

Father, I want to be transparent before others and You. I know You see everything and know everything about me. Keep me convicted, Holy Spirit, of those things that don't please You. Strengthen me to keep the well of my life cleaned out for Your honor and glory only. In Jesus' precious name....Amen