Marilou Coins is out of pocket this week, but we hope you’ll enjoy these words of wisdom, which originally appeared in our Nov. 1, 2020, edition.
Today I was watching a neighbor planting some small plants in front of his home. They looked so beautiful! I watched him watering those plants, taking great care for each one of them. That reminded me of a Bible verse and a story of two buckets.
The Bible verse is 2 Corinthians 9:6 — “Remember that the person who plants few seeds will have a small crop; the person who plants many seeds will have a large crop.”
Now, let me explain this to you so you’ll understand the meaning I derived from this verse from the Bible and what I saw my neighbor doing.
Let’s say there was a person who daily went to the creek with two buckets to fetch water. After filling each of the buckets, the person took the same path back home. Those watching this person travel home with the two filled buckets noticed that one bucket never leaked a drop of water — but the other one dripped, dripped, dripped all the way home.
Folks watching this daily routine finally said, “Why don’t you get rid of that leaky bucket? You are losing so much water on your way back home.”
In reply, the person carrying the buckets said, “I don’t mind my leaky bucket. Look at all the good it has done: It watered the grass and the flowers along the side of the path. But the other bucket did nothing good along its path.”
The same could be said of each of us. We are “buckets” that travel a path in life. At the “creek” (church), we listen to the message. We leave filled with the “water” of the word of God.
Which kind of bucket are you? Are you the full bucket, keeping God’s word to yourself? Or are you the leaky bucket, sharing the word of God with those you meet along the path?
Especially in times like these, we need to be leaky buckets, spreading God’s word. The leaky bucket waters the “seeds” (other people), who may simply need to hear God’s word to sprout and bloom.
I have a boss at work that I consider to be a leaky bucket. He isn’t afraid to spread the word of God to everyone. Each driver who receives an information sheet from him discovers a daily Bible verse at the bottom of the sheet.
I thank God daily for this inspirational message, and I watch for it at the bottom of his messages. In fact, I usually read the scripture before reading the rest of the sheet. I have saved those Bible verses, and I even re-read them from time to time. I find it comforting to know he, as my boss, plants a seed and also waters it.
How many of us do that with those we meet along our path in life?
Which bucket are you? The bucket that holds it all in and doesn’t share the word of God? Or are you like my boss, a leaky bucket? Are you ready and willing to plant a seed then water it? I’m blessed to have a leaky bucket for a boss. I’m glad he shares the word of God with all of us. It’s the one drop at a time that waters the seed and nourishes it to grow and bloom.
Ministers can preach, but it’s the receivers that spread the word of God. The person who fills the buckets can only do that — fill them. It’s the buckets that leaks that waters the seed — those they meet — and share the word. Are you a leaky bucket?
Best of the roads and all gears forward in Jesus,
Rev. Marilou Coins
