I can remember being a small boy and watching Kung Fu Theater with my dad. It was then I developed an admiration for one of my favorite action movie stars, philosophers, and all-around Hollywood heroes, Bruce Lee. A couple of years ago, I received his book, The Tao Of Jeet Kune Do, as a gift.
In the book, Lee Writes these words, “Be like water making its way through cracks...Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water my friend.”
Lee’s comments regard having a warrior’s attitude, but not just in the martial arts. Lee is suggesting how to approach life by going with the flow, not letting circumstances dictate one’s mood, and being at peace. If we can learn to be water, we can live life according to where we are led and use our unique gifts and abilities to make a difference for the world in which we live.
God has given us each a great task, and that is to share what He has done for us with others. Testifying to God’s grace and glory is not something for the clergy to do alone. After all, preachers, ministers, pastors, and priests can only go so many places and do so many things. But if we each took the glory of God in our lives and spread that where we already live, work, and play, things around us will change!
We are like cups, bottles, and teapots. Without accepting Jesus and having the Holy Spirit in our lives, we are nothing but empty vessels. This is not how we were created to live, however. By accepting Jesus, God gives us the Holy Spirit to fill us and empower us to live according to the plan and purpose for our life. None of us want to be empty vessels; we want to do what we are supposed to do. We need living water! And to receive it, we need the Spirit to fill us and change us from the inside out.
In the Gospel of John, Jesus said, ‘“Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.’ By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.” (John 7.38-39a) Just as water changes the properties of an empty cup, bottle, or teapot, the Spirit changes our properties and we become partakers of God’s nature.
With the Spirit inside us, living water flows, changing the spiritual landscape of the world. We then become cups, bottles, and teapots able to fulfill their purposes because they are full and ready for action. And as the water from within flows, thanks to God’s Spirit, we are now able to positively change the properties of the people, places, and things around us with faith, hope, and love.
We have the ability to change the world as we fulfill God’s purpose of our lives. So accept Jesus and God’s Spirit as God’s gift. Accept God’s plan for your life. Allow the Spirit to fill you and shape your mind, body, and soul. And get ready for living water to flow! Hang on, and “Be water my friend.”
In the book, Lee Writes these words, “Be like water making its way through cracks...Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water my friend.”
Lee’s comments regard having a warrior’s attitude, but not just in the martial arts. Lee is suggesting how to approach life by going with the flow, not letting circumstances dictate one’s mood, and being at peace. If we can learn to be water, we can live life according to where we are led and use our unique gifts and abilities to make a difference for the world in which we live.
God has given us each a great task, and that is to share what He has done for us with others. Testifying to God’s grace and glory is not something for the clergy to do alone. After all, preachers, ministers, pastors, and priests can only go so many places and do so many things. But if we each took the glory of God in our lives and spread that where we already live, work, and play, things around us will change!
We are like cups, bottles, and teapots. Without accepting Jesus and having the Holy Spirit in our lives, we are nothing but empty vessels. This is not how we were created to live, however. By accepting Jesus, God gives us the Holy Spirit to fill us and empower us to live according to the plan and purpose for our life. None of us want to be empty vessels; we want to do what we are supposed to do. We need living water! And to receive it, we need the Spirit to fill us and change us from the inside out.
In the Gospel of John, Jesus said, ‘“Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.’ By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.” (John 7.38-39a) Just as water changes the properties of an empty cup, bottle, or teapot, the Spirit changes our properties and we become partakers of God’s nature.
With the Spirit inside us, living water flows, changing the spiritual landscape of the world. We then become cups, bottles, and teapots able to fulfill their purposes because they are full and ready for action. And as the water from within flows, thanks to God’s Spirit, we are now able to positively change the properties of the people, places, and things around us with faith, hope, and love.
We have the ability to change the world as we fulfill God’s purpose of our lives. So accept Jesus and God’s Spirit as God’s gift. Accept God’s plan for your life. Allow the Spirit to fill you and shape your mind, body, and soul. And get ready for living water to flow! Hang on, and “Be water my friend.”
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