4-year-old Katia came rushing, breathless, into her grandmother’s kitchen pleading urgently for a glass of milk. A tall glass was quickly brought out of the cupboard and the emergency beverage was offered. The little girl eagerly latched onto the glass and began to drink. And drink. And drink, her eyes bulging with each ounce of the cold milk as it went down. Her grandmother warned her to slow down, but the drinking continued until all the milk had been swallowed, her eyes now as big as proverbial saucers. As she set the glass down again on the table, she gasped loudly for the now much-needed air, her little body shuddering as she gulped. I think we’d all been subconsciously holding our breath as we watched and there was amused laughter at the incredible feat performed by this tiny little girl. Once she could breathe normally again, she happily skipped off to resume playing. We marveled at the amount of milk she could down in one go!
The ’how much’ I’m thinking of this week brought this story back to my mind. Jesus bequeathed his own joy to us. All of it! In praying for his disciples, he said, ‘I pray that they will experience and enter into my joyous delight in you so that it is fulfilled in them and overflows . . .’ Jn. 17:13 TPT. Exactly how much joy is that? He talked of overflow so that tells me it is too much for us to hold inside. Earlier, in conversation with them, he said, ‘ . . . that the joy I experience will fill your hearts with overflowing gladness!’ We aren’t able to ‘swallow’ all of it. We’re too small, too lacking in room to take it all in. Maybe we need to be a bit more like Katia, desperately longing for it as if our lives depended on it. Maybe we should rush into Jesus’ kitchen, urgently pleading for him to give us more (expand our capacity to receive more of what he’s already given). Maybe we’re afraid it will be something like being hit with the force of water from a fire hose that’s powerful enough to knock down a big man. I personally think it is strong enough to knock down all our resistances to the gifts he has been wanting us to receive. If we overcome our fear, we may just discover what we’ve been pining for all along! Let’s become like parched little children! PD
