Treasures

Jessie has been walking around all week with a little pink bag.  Today I was carelessly tossing it on the stairs.  Offended by my carelessness, she informed me that her bag was full of "treasures."  Intrigued, I had her spread her treasures on the table and tell me about each one. She had collected a very shiny and beautiful assortment of her play jewelry and a few other odds and ends.  We ooohed and ahhhed over each trinket.  As I looked at her bounty, I smiled as I thought how she won't even care about any of this a week from now.  As she meticulously put each treasure back into its bag, I wandered over to the counter to look at the latest J.Crew catalog.  As I flipped through it, I became entranced by all of the clothes that I just "need."  Oh, how I would treasure that blouse and that purse would be life changing, and if I had that sweater, I would never need another sweater again.  And bathing suits?  Yes, I know it is 40 degrees outside but who doesn't need another bathing suit?  How much is all of this?  Oh, the same as our mortgage this month...but it would make me so happy...what treasures!  
The Holy Spirit was listening and responded (with a smile I am sure)...but you won't even care about any of this a week from now.  God reminded me of John 4 where Jesus meets the Samaritan woman at the well.  He tells her, 
"If you knew the generosity of God and who I am, you would be asking me for a drink, and I would give you fresh living water." (v.10)
Immediately, I remembered an illustration I had seen several years ago.  I had (a very reluctant) Jess dump her most precious treasures into a vase.  Reagan went and got her treasure and put it in another.  I got my catalog and put it in another.  Then, we took an empty vase and filled it with water.  I explained that the reason Jesus compared Himself with water is that there are no empty spaces when a vase is filled with water.  Our stuff left empty spaces everywhere, but the vase with the water was full.  I read them the rest of what Jesus said,
"Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again and again [our vases].  Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst--not ever.  The water I give will be an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life."  (John 4:13-14)
Jess, my boundary pusher, pointed out, well there is still an empty space at the top of that jar.  So, to illustrate Jesus' last point, we took it to the sink and turned the water on and let it overflow.  Jess got so excited when she saw it and truthfully so did I.  We let it run and talked about how Jesus never stops filling us, how we won't be able to contain His abundance of love so we have to share it with others, and how if we make Him our treasure, we will never have empty spaces.  It is okay to have our stuff but we need to understand that our stuff will never make us feel full.  To feel full, we need Jesus.

As I thought about this the rest of the afternoon, I was reminded of a quote I read in a book that said, "Every sin is an attempt to fly from emptiness (Simone Weil)."  It made me think back to all of the ways I have tried to fill the empty places in my life.  What started as looking at the treasures of my five year old, became an incredible and gentle reminder that the only treasure in life comes through the One who offers the living water.  A  gift of a promise that as long as He is my treasure, I will never thirst again.  The J.Crew catalog went into the recycling bin and my cup ran over.