“We were built by God to be channels not reservoirs.” ~Joyce Meyer
Several weeks ago the drain to my bathroom sink finally became totally clogged. It had been building up over a couple of years. At least twice a week, these past two years, I thought about taking thirty minutes and cleaning it out, but instead I waited until it could drain no more before I unclogged it.
I thought about my clogged drain when Joyce Meyer said the above words on her morning television show a few days ago.
God built us to be channels of His Spirit not reservoirs which means we must create a vessel (our bodies, minds and spirits) that are fine tuned to the point they have the Spirit (accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior) and are able to let the fruits of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control Galatians 5:22) continuously flow through us to others.
So what gets in the way? What clogs our channel? Why do we struggle with keeping our Spirit clean?
It’s pretty simple. If we let any of the seven deadly sins (pride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, greed, sloth…all originated from fear) dwell in us for any period of time they will clog our Spirit as well as our channel and the backup of the Spirit creates a Spirit focused on self and stinks worse than the crap I pulled out of my bathroom sink drain a couple of weeks ago.
In essence the fruits of the spirit which are God’s virtues are the by-products of a life run by God with us serving as a channel. The seven deadly sins which are satan’s virtues are the by-products of a life run by self and fueled by satan…a very smelly reservoir.
If you struggle with keeping your drain clean and being a channel, it is important to spend time with God first thing upon arising and pray to keep your channel clean. If one of the deadly sins creeps into your channel during the day, prayerfully turn it over to God. Then at the end of the day make a final check of where any of the seven deadly sins crept into your channel throughout the day and turn them over to God.
If you don’t keep your channel clean on a daily basis, it will eventually clog up and become a smelly, self-centered reservoir…just like my drain was a few weeks ago and just like the devil wants us to be.
Pray to be a channel, picture what being a channel looks like, plan the steps needed to keep the channel clean and practice it day in and day out.
P.E.A.C.E.
Jay@EagleLaunch.com
2 Corinthians 7:1, “Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.” (NIV)
