Doctrine and Covenants 104:17 - "For all the earth is full, and there is enough and to spare; yea, I prepared all things, and have given unto the children of men to be agents unto themselves."
Matthew 13:12 - "For whosoever receiveth, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance; but whosoever continueth not to receive, from him shall be taken away even that he hath." (JST added)
As I pondered these verses, a picture came into my head. I imagined God with a never-ending supply of water, and he is offering it to us all. It is our choice to partake of it. There are some who do, they come forward with pitchers, coolers, and 20 gallon drums. There are some with cups ranging in size from the Big Mug, to a shot glass. We all have something that could catch the water, even if it is our cupped hand. The beautiful thing is that once emptied, the container can be refilled. Those who receive the water can increase their capacity to hold more water.
Some of us bring our glass and stop the water at the half way mark. "I have plenty," They say. "I have enough for my needs." and they walk away, with their hand over the top to keep the water in. As they drink the water, which is enough to keep them alive, but not enough to thrive, they find themselves thirsty again very quickly. They want more, but somehow feel guilty about wanting more. So they pretend they aren't thirsty. They claim they don't think about water, they are more focused on life. There is a saying I love, "All you can think about when drowning is the need for air." When you are dying of thirst, all you can think about is water. Sure, you have enough to live. . . to survive, but your body needs more than that to thrive. In fact, our brains have this neat little function to keep us from going crazy from the need of water: It turns the thirst off. After a certain period of time, if the thirst isn't satisfied, the brain turns it off, thinking there is no way to get more. Have you ever had extra water? Hydrated yourself more than normal, and then found that you became thirsty faster? That is because your body went "WhooHoo! There must be a spring near by, we can finally get some lubrication!"
When we drink from our glass, and then return to the Lord and ask to be filled, he will fill us. We can even ask Him were to go to get bigger containers for the water. He even asks us to fill others as we cross their paths. What if everyone filled their glasses, and then filled others glasses, and came back for more. Eventually all would have overflowing containers all the time, and we would have a big, joyful waterfight!
Why do we limit the amount of water we can have? If you don't want that much water, instead of putting your hand over your cup, you can give it away. How much more fulfilling is it? I would far rather be the means of quenching another's thirst than refusing life-giving water. Not only that, but when you are overflowing in water, you can grow beautiful things.
Maybe I have gone a little far with the water analogy, but I really believe that the concept of abundance is this simple. We don't have to fight for water other people have, we simply have to find a container we like and fill it from the source. It sure helps to know where it is. If you already know that, you are doing much better than most of the people here, and can help show them the source of water, by sharing.
2 comments:
Are you honest to goodness comparing money to water? Or do you leave the word "abundance" nebulous on purpose?
I believe that Abundance is more than just money. Abundance is all that the Lord has to offer.
I also believe, however, that money is a part of abundance. In our society, money is very much like water, we need it to survive. In our day and age you cannot eat, sleep comfortably, or dress without a source of income, either yours or someone else's.
I believe that God knows this, and has made the transition as well. We have gone from paying tithing out of our flocks and gardens, to paying it from the money that comes into our lives. If God's current definition of increase is dollar based, I think that his current definition of abundance also has a dollar base.
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