Beer and Baptizing. Not two things that normally go together.
I have some very unique opportunities — and I try to never forget that it’s God alone who allows me these opportunities.
Recently, I was standing at a pool where a very long line of people were waiting to be baptized. It was an amazing sight. All those people wanted to show the world they trusted Jesus as their Lord and Savior. One young woman caught my eye. She was holding a bucket of beer with one arm and drinking one of the beers with the other. I laughed — and I’m embarrassed to even write the words. But I laughed and thought to myself — What she doing in the line? A bucket of beer? Does she even get what’s she’s doing? Is she going to sit her bucket down when she steps in to be baptized?
The woman’s turn came and she set down her bucket of beer as she stepped into the water. When she stepped out she left her bucket of beer at the edge of that pool.
I’ve thought about her a lot over the last many weeks. I have even told the story of seeing her — and laughed at the story. Until I realized that I was and am no different than the woman with the bucket of beer. She stepped into her relationship with Jesus holding tightly to her beer. Jesus invites us to Himself BEFORE we put down our sins. We come to Him holding our buckets filled with all manner of sins – pride, unforgiveness, anger, addiction, to name just a few. The difference is our buckets are invisible — no one can see the buckets we bring before the Lord. Often we hold onto these buckets long after we’ve accepted the saving grace of Jesus Christ. We hold onto our sins, we hold them in our hearts, we never let them go or release them to His power.
I want to be more like the woman with the bucket of beer. I want to leave my bucket and walk away.
I want a real faith. An authentic faith.
What about you? Are you holding onto your bucket?
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Marvelous. This reminds me of the woman at the well. Once she realized Jesus knew everything she’d ever done and STILL loved her, she left her water jar and ran, unencumbered, to tell everyone she knew. Bless that woman and her bucket. And may He meet us all where we are -even us longtimers – and help us lay those heavy things down.
Thanks so much for reminding us all that we brought a bucket of sins to our baptism too. Only then were we able to leave that bucket behind. This is very profound. Thanks and blessings to you.
That is great! Just what I needed to read! I am preparing for a Women’s Getaway/Retreat & I really felt like God wanted me to speak on depravity/sin in our lives, but was struggling with the idea of how dark that seemed for a retreat! I know sin is dark, & I know we need it to be an authentic experience, not just playing “nicey nicey!” I asked God to show me if this is really what He was telling me to do. This morning I got your email with this story! Plus, I got another devotional addressing the same subject! I thank Him for the answer to prayer & I thank you for sharing this with us! Be blessed!
This is AWESOME!!!