Emptied to be Filled

God longs and desires to fill us with an inner drive and passion to pursue Him with all that we are. The inner drive cannot come from ourselves, it must come from God (Ephesians 2:8-9). And if it must come from God, we must ask Him to do this work in our souls. We must take the necessary steps to receive what He longs and desires to give us.

Unfortunately, this cannot be done if we are already filled with things other than what are of God. There will be no room for Him to fill us with the inner drive and passion to pursue Him. We must be emptied to be filled.

Two main hindrances keep us from being filled with a hunger for God; first, the sin that dirties our soul keeps us occupied pursuing the desires of our flesh. And second, our inner life, the areas of our lives that are not surrendered to God keep us from receiving God's filling.

Picture yourself like a pristine glass used for the finest of beverages. This glass radiates with elegance and such beauty that all long to use this particular glass. It stands out above the rest. As the glass is about to be used, the person drinking realizes a murkiness in the liquid and pieces of food stuck to the inside of the glass. The drinker slowly puts down the glass, looking for another (see 2 Timothy 2:20-21). The glass must be cleaned out in order for it to be used properly.

Just as the glass needs to be cleaned out to be filled properly, our souls need to be cleaned out of our sin to be filled with a desire to pursue God. Sin pollutes our soul and God's ability to fill us with His Spirit (Ephesians 5:18) who creates an inner drive and passion to pursue God (Psalm 66:18, Matthew 6:14-15). But God gives us an option. If we are willing to confess our sin and change our hearts and lives (repentance), He will gladly fill us with more of His Spirit, if we just ask Him (1 John 1:9, Luke 11:13). The key is for us to live a spiritually clean life before God by confessing our sin and emptying ourselves so that we may be filled.

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting (Psalm 139:23-23).

Think of a bucket. If you are hoping to fill a bucket with water, and yet there is a large hole in the bottom, the bucket will be useless for its purpose. Similarly, if we are living our lives as Christians without every area of our life fully surrendered to God, the drive to pursue God will fall right out like the water would from that bucket. To fill the hole in our bucket, we must surrender that which is unsurrendered to God.

I loved to play video games. I grew up on them, built so much community around them. They became a source of enjoyment and produced life for me. Then at times after playing video-games, I felt extremely disconnected from God. This left me unsettled. I decided to ask God about these disconnecting experiences with Him. God responded by speaking one of the clearest words I have every heard from Him. He said, "It's not about the video-games, it's about loving me." I realized I was using video-games in a way that did not encourage me to love God. They took the place of God, becoming an idol. After much prayer, I stopped playing video-games to fill this hole in my bucket. God eventually led me to the point where He asked me to sell my video-games, all of them. This took me an entire year to do. But I came to the point where I obediently sold my video-games. After more than a year, I still do not own a video-game system, nor have I played what I sold. Will God give them back? I don't know. But what I do know is that I plugged a hole in my bucket so that I can be filled with an greater drive and passion to more fully pursue Jesus Christ.

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart (Jeremiah 29:13).

Confessing our sin and surrendering every area of our lives to Jesus is extremely challenging. But I can guarantee you that if you choose to enter a season of confession (cleaning our your glass) and surrender (plugging up your holes), you will receive what will truly give you a life worth living. You can replace the sin and distraction with the Word, prayer, worship and other means that connect you to God in deeper ways. Being emptied to be filled creates a space for the Holy Spirit to fill us with an inner drive and passion to pursue God. Will you empty yourself to be filled?

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Jesus, as we empty ourselves of sin and unsurrendered areas of our lives, out of your grace, will you fill us with an deeper drive and passion to pursue you. Amen.