The Cup

The Cup

“Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.” Psalm 23:5

This is part of one of my favorite bible verses, Psalm 23.  Recently I began thinking about the concept of the cup.  Having a close relationship with the Lord and being near to Him often makes me feel like my cup is being filled to overflowing.  There are days when my love for the Lord nearly makes my heart burst.  These are the days that it feels like my cup is running over with joy.

Not all days are rosy and perfect, however.  Sometimes as I start my day I am completely filled with joy, but then the day soon takes a nosedive and I feel as if my cup is made of styrofoam and the people in my life are holding ice picks which they are using to violently stab holes in my cup!  Have you ever felt that way? Like the people of the world enjoy stealing your joy?  You are not alone.  Many of us have these days.  The key is turning to The One Who Fills Your Cup and letting Him refill it when these little stabwounds happen. 

The more time we spend with the Lord, the stronger our cups will become.  Eventually, it will seem like our cups are ceramic and those little ice picks can no longer harm us.  Not to mention, when our cups get stronger they won’t get holes poked in them, which means they will be filled more often to overflowing with joy.  The excess will then flow to those around us and their cups will be filled with joy as well!  Our lives will be a virtual fountain of the Lord’s love.  Eventually those holding the ice picks will start to feel the joy as well.  They might still try to stab holes in your cup, but their ice picks will be useless.  Maybe eventually they’ll even get their cups filled as well.