Do you have an empty place inside of you?  I am not talking about an empty stomach here, but an empty spirit.  Ever feel totally empty?  Yet as believers, we are blessed if we “hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled” (Matt 5:6). We are to attain the “whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Eph 4:13).  Yet it is possible as a believer to feel still empty!

What do you do when you are empty?

When I am empty, I am a bit more short-tempered and angry; I shout more.  I am quickly irritated and equally quick to tears.  When I am empty, I feel like I will crack, like I am fragile and will fall to pieces.  Sometimes I will try to use my friends, my kids, my husband, my house, or activities to try to fill me up, but it never works; I still come up empty.

Jesus, will you fill my cup?

That is the answer, to bring my empty self to Jesus and ask Him to fill my hungry and thirsty soul with His righteousness, His goodness, His mercy, energy, power, wisdom, patience, and the list goes on.  To lay my empty heart and soul at His altar and ask Him to fill me instead of trying to do it myself.  It is possible to know Jesus and still be empty, you see. So I have to come to Him regularly and ask Him to fill up my cup.

Jesus, He has the life-giving water that I need.

Jesus said to the women at the well:  “‘If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.’” 

Jesus is the source of living water, and I, who know the gift of God, have access to this living water through Jesus.  Jesus’ water fills the emptiness in my soul; where the water runs, it fills all the gaps and cracks and fills me so completely that I have the measure of fullness that is mine in Jesus.  He fills my cup so completely, to the brim and more, so that it sloshes all over the place.

Imagine a life led, not empty, but with living water sloshing all over the place, over your husband, your kids, your family, your friends, the people you meet…  Ever met anyone like that?

Ever notice that you didn’t know how dry you were until you met someone wet.

Now, if they hold their cup up to our lips, we can get a taste of the living water, but it will never fill us up; we have to take our empty cup to Jesus so that He can fill it up. There is no substitute for this.  So, therefore, coming to the altar of the Lord on a daily basis so that we can be filled is mandatory for us, so that others will be sloshed with our water.

So I may come at the start of the day and say, Jesus, please fill me up. So he fills me, and then the day starts, and before long, sometimes before we head out the door in the morning, the cup is already empty.  By the time we reach the first robot, the cup is cracking up.  Is that it? Is that my portion of fullness for the day?

No, whenever I am feeling empty, in need of filling, all I need to do is go to Jesus from where streams of living water flow:

“For the Lamb at the centre of the throne will be their shepherd; “he will lead them to springs of living water.” “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”’ (Rev 7:17)

I can continually, all day, come to Jesus and ask Him to fill my cup.

We are to live as whole (full) people, overflowing with the life-giving water Jesus gives us.  Being full, does not mean we are perfect and have our life together; it means that we recognize where our cup needs to be filled.

But not just that, we are going; every time we feel thirsty, we go to have our cup filled because we know that we cannot do this life without the living water that Jesus gives.

When last was your cup filled, and are you going back when you need more?

Jesus, I come to you knowing that I cannot fill the emptiness inside me or make me whole.  I am coming to you because you have already made this possible for me.  So I bring you, my empty cup Lord, since I thirst and hunger for your fullness, and the word says that I will be filled.  Fill my cup, Lord.  Fill it to the full, overflowing, so that I will have enough for me and others.  Thank you that I do not do life empty and alone, but You are with me in all that I do and are willing and able to fill my cup.