I made a fountain!
We have recently invested a fair bit into a new patio at the back of our house. An excavator dug out the former, decades old concrete patio that was falling apart and slowly sliding down the hill side toward the lake. We have replaced it with a beautiful new patio made of concrete flagstone pavers.
In one corner of the patio I planned to build a fountain. My plan was not to hire someone to build it, like we did for every other aspect of the patio. No, I wanted to do this myself.
For many of you men reading this you are thinking, “No big deal.” However, for me this was kind-of-a big deal. I’m not really a handy man. In fact, Anne says they only thing that makes me handy is that I live close by. OK, maybe not, but I am not the most skilled with my hands.
I wanted to build this fountain as a spiritual metaphor of me – and of all of us really.
When we moved into our home in the year 2000, the previous owners left a beat up old concrete urn. It is large, awkward and very heavy. It cannot be moved by one man. It stands about 3 feet high, and is about 3 feet in circumference.
We never really knew what to do with it, or where to put it. We moved it from here to there in the yard and planted some flowers in it, but it just didn’t seem to fit.
When we were planning our new patio I had vision for what I could do with it. It would become the centerpiece of my fountain. I designed it as a vanishing fountain, where the water overflows from it spilling out onto rocks of various sizes that are flush with the surface of the patio pavers. It is simple enough to look at, but all the secret sauce is under ground.
I had to cut out the pavers in a 6 foot square, dig out the 36 square feet to create a basin, bury a container for the pump over 2 feet deep, then hook up all the various piping and valves to carry the water from the pump up into the urn. However the entire area needed to be covered with a cushioning material, then a water proof rubber liner before the pump and piping could be inserted and assembled.
The urn itself needed to have its cracks filled and sealed so it would be water tight. As I mentioned, it is a beat up old urn. It was chipped, faded, cracked, with most of the paint worn off of it. It looks like is should be thrown out.
And herein lies the spiritual metaphor: that urn is a picture of me and you. We were beat up old cracked vessels, empty and not much good for anything until Jesus offered to fill us with His living water. Jesus has filled us with a well-spring of living water that overflows our lives – new life springs up from within us.
In order for my fountain to work it needs two critical components: 1. It needs water. 2. It needs power. If the pump is not plugged in there is no water springing up from within the battered old urn – even though there may be water in the pump basin. And if the pump is plugged in but there is no water in the basis there will be no water overflowing from the urn.
So what does this mean for us? Well, no matter how you slice it we are battered and broken urns. Jesus has offered us new life – a well-spring of living water flowing out from our inner most being. However, we need to stay plugged into Him in order for the water of life to flow out of us.
Are you plugged into Jesus and experiencing His living waters springing up? If you feel dry, plug into Him and ask Him to fill you with His living water. He has promised to do so for those who ask.
You my friend are a fountain of life – Jesus’ life in and through you – believe in Him.
John 7:38
“Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”
John 4: 13, 14
“Jesus answered, ‘Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’”
John 4:10
“Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.’”
Proverbs 4:23
“Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.”