The Muddy Glass

The Muddy Glass Blog

Look at the canoe filled with mud, looking rather worthless.  Imagine that you find a cracked glass buried in the mud at the edge of the river. You pick it up and set it on a table to contemplate it. The cracked glass just sits there, useless, full of mud, sand, gravel and a few pebbles. You wash off the outside and see how pretty the glass is. Still, though, it remains full of this combination that you wouldn’t want in you. Then you try an experiment. You pour water in until it is full. It doesn’t take much. You watch the water slowly leak out until it is back in its original condition.

Next, you try pouring the water in a little more forcefully, and keep pouring after it is full. You watch as the mud begins to wash out. Only while you pour too much water in does mud wash out. As soon as you stop, the water drains out and the glass sits empty of water but mostly full of the soil. This time, when you add water, it holds more water before it becomes full. You return to adding water forcefully until all the mud is washed out. Now it has sand, gravel and a few pebbles. In addition, something must have been special about the water, because the cracks are smaller.

With all the mud gone, you can pour water in much more forcefully, and notice the sand beginning to wash out. Again, it is only when the water flows through the glass and out again that the sand comes out. Now, if there is a period with no water entering and the glass empties, there is only some gravel and a few pebbles at the bottom, The glass can hold much more water before it is filled. As water flows more forcefully, the gravel washes out, and finally, reluctantly, after a long time, the pebbles wash out. With the healing of the water, the cracks have disappeared, and the glass looks clean and beautiful.

We are that glass. The moment we become a Christian is like when the glass is found. Many Christians go to church to be filled, but never let the living water, the Holy Spirit flow through them. When we do, by loving our neighbors (widows, orphans, impoverished, aliens) two things happen, One is God is able to begin his cleansing and healing, and the other is we can hold more of the Spirit. Frequently, we have dry periods where we get focused on ourselves. Then we just go to get filled but not let the Spirit flow through us to impact others. These are periods of no growth. As we continue to let God use us to reach others, that tiny flow becomes a mighty river. As we focus on loving others, and not ourselves, we don’t see that we have become a rare cut crystal goblet, clean and pure, but others can.

Let God flow through you by every day forsaking sin and selfishness, and reaching the ordinary people around you. There is the guy just dumped by his girlfriend, the woman who is beaten by her husband, the father broken by his son’s drug addiction, the old couple who can only afford pet food to eat. As you let God use you, you will find yourself increasin in the power to love and care. These people that you impact and lead to God will be the jewels in your crown in Heaven. They are the treasure you are storing up in Heaven.