Genesis 4-6
Matthew 2

WHAT IS FILLING OUR LIFE? 

“A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.” —Matthew 12:35

 What fills our life? If we were to take a cup and fill it with water, what would we find inside the cup? It would be water, of course. If we were to shake the cup full of water, what would come out? It would still be water. Now, imagine for a moment that this cup is our life, our heart and our mind, and the water represents what we are filling our life, our heart and our mind with. If we are filling our lives with things that are not of God, then when our lives get shaken, what will come out of us? Things that are not of God. For example, if we are filling our lives with the pursuit of money, power and control, when our lives get shaken for whatever reason, we should not be surprised that what comes out is greed, jealousy, anger, frustration, pride and selfishness.

If, however, we fill our lives with Jesus, who is patient, kind and gentle, then when our lives get shaken—when our kids are out of control, when our coworkers are not being that great to us, when things do not go according to our own plans—what is going to come out of our lives is patience, gentleness and kindness to deal with the people in our lives. Why? Because as we fill our life with Christ—abide in Christ—the Spirit will produce fruit in our lives.

Jesus tells us, “Remain in Me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in Me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:4-5) Fruit comes as we abide in Jesus, filling our vessel with the things of God. As a result, the Holy Spirit begins producing in us the fruit of our salvation, which is the righteous character of Jesus. It is not in us trying harder; rather, it is the work of Christ as we abide in Him.

May we take time to reflect on these questions today: What are we filling our lives with? What are we filling our hearts and minds with? What are we putting in front of our eyes? What are we putting into our ears? What do our hands reach for? From the opening example, whatever we are filling our lives with is what will spill out of us.

Dear Jesus Christ, I want to fill my life with You. Help me to abide in You. May what overflows out of my life be evidence of Your work in me. Thank You, Jesus.