All My Fountains

The water in my house started having a sort of problem today.  Apparently they were working on something in the township and it made our water have a yellowish, cloudy tint-- very rusty.  It effected everything:  the water that comes out of the showers and the sinks, even the water in the toilet.  I have to use a bottle of spring water to brush my teeth and I will probably bum a shower from someone else's house tomorrow.  And cooking pasta?  Forget it.  It shall be sandwiches from here on out until the water runs clear again.  And I dare not even try to wash my clothes.  Hello another few days of wearing the same dirty lifeguard suit and jean shorts.  Ew.

That's the thing about water, it all comes from the same source.  It doesn't matter what activity you're trying to do or which faucet you turn on--it's the same water in the showers as it is in the sink, etc.


Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”  --John 4:13-14


Yeah we've heard it time and time before, the old "only Jesus can quench your thirst, son."  And while this is indeed true, have you ever took the time to think about it?  What Jesus is saying here is choose Him.  There is one choice.  You can't play both sides of the field.  A spring of water means all of the water will come from Christ and Christ alone.  You can't go to a river and get a sample of water, run 100 yards down the same river and come up with a different sample.  All of the water is the same.  It's flowing and changing, adapting to the environment that it's moving into-- around and over rocks, bending around corners.  But it stays in its boundaries, coloring inside the lines.  You can either play on Christ's team or on the world's team.  Doing both just isn't even a possibility.  You can't turn on the shower in one room of my house and expect clear water when the sink in the other room has rusty water.  It doesn't work that way because it comes from the same source.

Psalm 87:7 says, As they make music they will sing, “All my fountains are in you."  Chris Tomlin sings it oh so well (get the Passion 2011 soundtrack; number four rocks).

But what does it really mean to have all your fountains in Christ?  It means you are getting everything from Him.  To have all of your fountains in Jesus means nothing that comes out of you is of anything but the water that He gives you.  Everything is from Him and everything is glorifying to Him.  A fountain is big.  Artsy.  Catches the eye immediately.  If your fountains are in Christ then everything that comes out of you will bring glory to the Father.  And on the flip side, everything that you use as your source is from the Father.  It's a cycle.  Have you every watched a fountain?  It gives and receives from the same source of water.

Ruth, me, & Matt at the Princeton fountain

 My friends and I went and played in the fountain on Princeton's campus one day recently.  So many people were cooling off in the water because it was a really hot day.  It's a public site, open to anyone to cares to go for a shallow dip.  God's grace is the same.  It's for everyone to enjoy and experience.  It is everlasting.  But stopping by for an hour isn't enough.  You have to allow Jesus to transform you.  In the above verse He says [it] will become in them a spring of water.  Let it change your actions and opinions and thought processes.  Because if you make your fountains in the Lord, then He will receive the glory in whatever you do.