We all know Psalm 23. It’s usually quoted at funerals.
I memorized this Psalm from the King James Version when I was younger (that was the only version available to me at the time), and in that version verse 5 states, “My cup runneth over.” I used to think this was a bad thing. I thought that it meant you had too much and you were wasting it.
That’s not what it means, though. It’s talking about how God takes care of us and gives us so much goodness and mercy that our cup overflows.
What It Refers To
One commentary I read (it came with the Blue Letter Bible I downloaded to my android phone for free from the Google Play Store) talks about how Jesus said, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.” (John 7:37-38, NASB)
Living Water
Christ is that living water. If we ask Him to be our Saviour, He will give us that water. And, we want to fill our lives with so much of Christ, that He overflows from us. We want that water to spill over so that it is available for others, so that we can freely give to others what Christ has given to us.
Being in daily communion with God – reading the Bible, praying, devotions, etc. – will help to fill our cups. Fellowship with other Christians will also help fill our cups.
Caution
But, I want to add a word of caution: don’t let your cup run empty. That’s what will happen if we don’t spend time with God. It will also happen if we don’t take care of ourselves, and if we avoid fellowshipping.
I know, from my own experiences, that when I don’t spend needed time with the Lord, when I work too much and don’t get enough rest, not much flows from my cup. It also happens when I give to much of myself and I don’t take needed “me time.” When this has happened, I have had times when my cup has been bone dry!
It’s not a good feeling.
And I’m certainly not able to be productive for the kingdom.
It’s important to take care of all aspects of our lives – physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. One really does affect the other.
Encouragement
My friends, let me encourage you to make sure you are taking good care of yourself. Make sure to eat properly, get some exercise (something I know I need to do more of myself), take care of your mental and emotional health. And definitely make sure to spend time with the Lord.
Make sure you are being poured into, so that your cup will overflow for others; so that the streams of Living Water spill over from your life.