Wells or Springs

Our mind is like a cistern. Our heart is like a well with capacity to be a spring.

Living from our left brain is like drawing water from a cistern. You have to keep putting water into the cistern at least as much or more than you draw out or you will rub dry. That's why we often develop such an obsession for learning facts and formulas and programs etc. Since we largely live from our mind instead of our heart we have to keep a constant supply of new things to stimulate new possibilities and live in constant fear of failure since we were not really designed to live primarily from our mind. This is our condition from the Fall.

Our hearts are more like wells. While it may be much more difficult to draw up the water it does not require pumping water into it – except maybe for priming purposes. This is why it is so effective to open another person's heart by being open yourself. It is very much like priming a well and it is extremely effective most of the time.

Beyond this, God has much greater designs for our hearts. He wants us to become not just wells, which still have the potential of running dry, but He wants to make us into springs of life that nurture and splash joy on everyone around us. The obvious difference between a well and a spring is the amount of work to receive life from them. Both are deep holes in the ground. But a spring is spontaneous and energetic in exuding life and is nearly impossible to restrain. God's plans involve a whole community of life-givers that swell together into an unstoppable river of Life that originates from Him and sweeps others along into the current as it returns to Him in joy and praise and worship.

Feel free to send in your ideas to add to these if you would like to develop them even more. I would like to add your insights to swell this little trickle of a spring (or well).